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Saturday, January 21, 2006
Empowering thru power
By Stella A. Estremera
IF there is anything a Dabawenyo could stake claim to as being the first in the whole country, it's being the first and only local government unit to have an emergency response system for police, medical, fire and rescue assistance called the Davao City Central 911.
The backbone of the Central 911 is a computer and telecommunication system that can automatically track the exact location of the emergency site through its emergency computer aided dispatch (Ecad).
What a lot of Dabawenyos do not know is that this computer system was originally developed by the Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC), and that the computer-assisted emergency response system is made possible by donations from the company.
The Ecad is a customized version of DLPC's computerized mapping system called "Power One", which was developed to locate DLPC's customers and track down specific sites where there is an emergency repair that has to be done, anywhere within its franchise area. Using its electric poles as markers, the mapping system can locate even the smallest customer in the narrowest alley.
DLPC's automated mapping system and facilities management system, from which the Ecad sprung from, was the first to be used in the Philippines.
Well aware that peace and order is on top of the priorities of the city government, DLPC president Alfonso Y. Aboitiz saw the great possibilities such a system offers especially in keeping a city and its people safe.
Thus, in 2002, DLPC formally engaged in a partnership with the City Government for the putting up of the Central 911: an example of how partnership with a local government unit and the private sector can greatly benefit the people in a community as a whole.
That DLPC is in the forefront of technology in the field is not surprising as it has consistently strived to serve not only the power needs of the people in its franchise area, but also to be part of the development of the communities they serve.
DLPC is the third largest privately owned electric utility in the country and is a subsidiary of the Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc.
Incorporated in 1929 by P.A. Frank, Relatives and Associates, negotiations for the purchase of DLPC by the Aboitiz Group was first done in 1941, but World War II put a stop to this; its power plant and facilities becoming the prime targets of both American and Japanese bombers.
Negotiations resumed after the war, although what was left by then was but a 300-horsepower Fairbanks Morse Diesel engine.
Don Ramon Aboitiz, Relatives and Associates finally acquired DLPC in July 1946 through the efforts of Francisco Such, who was then the resident manager of Ormoc Electric Light Company.
With nothing but war-battered barrios to serve then, DLPC developed the industry by introducing the benefits of power to residents using innovative strategies like selling electric equipment; strategies it has enhanced and developed through generations.
From that 300 HP diesel engine, DLPC now has a maximum peak load of 230 megawatts and has poured in investments to ensure the most efficient power supply service and thus maintains 20 substations throughout its franchise, a 33 MVA mobile substation worth P31 million and has recently put up its Bunawan substation worth P300 million.
Aside from this, it is among very few power utility companies in the country that have the capability to supply close to 20 percent of the customer base during emergency trip-offs of power from the National Power Corporation as it has a 42 MW standby diesel plant. This standby power plant comes in most handy in emergency situations and can thus provide ample power supply for hospitals and water supply distribution.
As of December 2005, it serves 231,000 customers in the cities of Davao and Panabo and municipalities of Carmen, Dujali and Sto. Tomas in Davao del Norte.
DLPC manages to excel in the utility service as it maintains a very harmonious labor and management relations and has been consistently nominated for Best Labor Management Council practices for the past five years by the National Mediation and Conciliation Board and the Association of Labor Management Cooperation Practitioners and winning the awards twice, once in 1999 in the national level and another time in 2004 in the regional level.
Not only does it see optimum labor-management relations as a key to success, it also takes its corporate responsibilities to heart and thus was named as the biggest taxpayer for 2005 in Davao City, having paid a total of P32 million for business permit fees, licenses, real property taxes, and local franchise taxes.
The Philippine Business for Social Progress Center has also cited it as the country's number one corporate responsibility practitioner in the utility sector in 2004 for Corporate Citizenship.
It has donated a total of 13 school buildings complete with lighting facilities, chairs and blackboards since 1996.
It has a total of 60 colleges and 40 high school scholars since 1997 and runs a values formation program using ropes course approach for public high school students with leadership potentials and officers of the Sangguniang Kabataan.
It has also provided the city street light assembly units, installation and maintenance, including bulb replacements, free of charge, aside from various donations to non-government organizations and foundation concerned with the children, the elderly, and the environment.
Like it was in the past, DLPC sees its partnership with the community it serves as the key to its success. While before it introduced the convenience of having electric equipment and bushwhacked its way to remote communities for rural electrification, now it's reaching out further to the people and doing its part to ensure a healthy economy.
After all, the greatest indicator of a booming economy is an increase in power consumption and the middle-class power consumer base; and the cycle of growth and benefits just goes on and on for generations to come...
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (January 21, 2006 issue)
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