Secretary Cerge M. Remonde visits NEA
2 February 2005

I VISITED the office of Rev. Fr. Francisco Silva, the presidential adviser on rural electrification, at the National Electrification Administration (NEA) building in Quezon City yesterday.

Fr. Silva pioneered in rural electrification together with the late former Vice President Emmanuel Pelaez in the 60s and was responsible for the successes of the three electric cooperatives in Cebu.

In recognition of his work, Fr. Silva was granted special dispensation by Cebu Archbishop Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal to devote full time work in rural electrification through the cooperatives.

While he was already deep into the electric cooperative movement in the Marcos, Aquino, Ramos, and Estrada administrations, it was only in 2001 when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo became president that Fr. Silva accepted full government commission as NEA administrator.

Like what he did with the Cebu electric cooperatives, Fr. Silva put things in order and turned NEA around primarily through excellent human resource development.

It did not come to me as a surprise then when a group of NEA office employees came into his office and sang a few songs for us. Cebu electric coop employees perform impromptu song and dance numbers for visitors.

What caught my attention was the lyrics in one of the songs that they sang to the tune of "Climb Every Mountain." It says "Every step I take, I make for the nation’s sake."

It turned out that the NEA adaptation of the song "Climb Every Mountain" was some sort of their theme song when they voluntarily decided to climb the steps of the stairs of their eight-story building instead of using their elevators in response to the call of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for austerity.

Now, according to Fr. Silva, they are saving some P1.2 million a month in all NEA offices simply by not using their elevators.

In a sense, I told NEA employees that this is also what President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is doing. Every step she is making is for the nation’s sake. The President’s decision to impose government austerity and raise revenues is like opting to climb the stairs instead of using the elevators. She is doing what is right instead of just what is popular. She is doing the difficult job instead of opting for the easy way. Now, if only all of us will also be making each of our steps for the nation’s sake.
(Taken from Manila Bulletin dated February 3, 2005)