Micro loans bring light to remote mountain village in Zamboanga del Sur
Pedagan, a mountain village around 120 kilometers southwest of Pagadian City accessible only by horseback or foot along a rocky 2,000-hectare mountain stretch, rejoiced when light was brought to their small community with the installation of three solar streetlights and two solar-powered light bulbs at the community center by the AMORE program in March 2007.
In May 2008, 20 of the 80 households in the farming village celebrated, too, as they began to have solar-powered electricity right at their home. With financing from the Paglaum Multipurpose Cooperative, a microfinance institution that boasts a membership of 15,000 in 31 cities and municipalities in Mindanao and a loan portfolio totaling Php48 million, 20- and 30-wattpeak solar home systems supplied by the Solar Energy Company, were installed on houses. Php7,000- and Php13,000-peso loans for a 20- and 30-watt peak solar home system, respectiveley, were made available to households on a payment scheme that included a one-time downpayment (Php2,000/US$40) and a two-year amortization (Php464/US$9 and Php885/US$17).
Financing solar-powered electricity for the 20 households in the village, valued at Php160,000 (US$3,200), was ventured into by Paglaum with support from the LGU Guarantee Corporation, a private financial credit guarantee institution that serves as Program Manager for the World Bank-Rural Power Project Loan Guarantee Program funded by the Global Environment Facility. As loan guarantee fund provider, LGUGC promotes the use of photovoltaic systems in rural and off-grid areas, and encourages accredited financial institutions to participate in making available and affordable acquisitions of PVS by rural homeowners via medium- to long-term credit facilities.
Solar-powered energy access breathed a new life into all aspects of the community's life: the children's education, the community's small economy, and the families' overall well-being. With a repayment rate of close to 100 percent, the Paglaum Cooperative is encouraged to bring light to more households in the village.