Families in Bairan, Cebu celebrate Christmas with electricity for the first time

AboitizPower, Visayan Electric help brighten homes through Sitio Electrification Program

For more than two decades, the humble and secluded sitio of Bairan, Naga City in Cebu, located some seven kilometers away from the main road, has been enveloped in darkness. Rough and treacherous road conditions complicate and delay the arrival of progress in this hilltop community.

But after years of hardships, a long-awaited blessing descended upon their village. Electrification finally reached Barangay Bairan. The scattered lights residents once saw from afar, lighting up neighboring barangays, now illuminates the very area where they live.

Arnulfo Tiempo, Analou Obaob, and Neky Kanlom were among the residents of Barangay Bairan who benefited from the Sitio Electrification Program electrified by power distribution utility Visayan Electric Company, a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corporation (AboitizPower) and the second largest private utility in the Philippines.

This year, they, along with their kabarangays, will celebrate their Christmas the way they never experienced before; one filled with bright and colorful lights. In addition to regular fluorescent lights, their homes are now adorned with twinkling lights and other decorations that add to the spirit of the holidays.

Life after the Sitio Electrification Program Arnulfo, who is a backyard hog grower, faced a lot of challenges in raising his livestock due to the absence of electricity, one of which is the difficulty of assisting his sows during the delivery of piglets.