CAGAYAN DE ORO (PIA)–More than sixty media practitioners from the different parts of Mindanao have participated in a webinar dubbed “Journalists Bootcamp” conducted yesterday, July 22, by the Department of Energy. The Department of Energy (DOE) to orient them on the salient provisions of Republic Act No. 11285 or the Energy Efficiency and Conservation (EEC) Law including its implementing rules and regulations.
Held in in partnership with the European Union (EU), EU-Philippines Access to Sustainable Energy Programme (ASEP), and Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), the webinar sought to provide the members of the fourth estate with correct information about the EEC law, as they play a very important role in information dissemination.
“Media has always had a key role in bringing timely and accurate information across all generations and it has become more pronounced in the digital age especially amid COVID-19,” DOE Head of Public Affairs Javerri Bo Bullock said in her opening statement.
With media’s help, the important provisions of the EEC law would be properly disseminated to the local government units and the communities to get their involvement in energy consumption conservation initiatives.
In Northern Mindanao where hydropower projects are located would get more support alongside solar, wind, and others, as the EEC law strives to give teeth to the sustainable development goals of the country through enhanced government assistance in conducting research on sustainable energy projects in the country.
To further strengthen the law and encourage energy development, any person or entity that willfully violates said act shall be meted out penalties and/or imprisonment.
“Energy efficiency should be a way of life. That is what the law is trying to instill. So, if we will be more efficient, we can share energy with other people. That is the right thing to do,” Energy Utilization Management Bureau (EUMB) Director Patrick T. Aquino said. (VPSB/PIA10)
