One Meralco Foundation (OMF), the corporate social responsibility arm of the Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Manila Electric Company (Meralco), has energized 86 low-income households in Majayjay, Laguna, enabling families to be more productive at home and freeing them from submetering electricity from their neighbors.

Through the Household Electrification Program, these families from Barangays Pangil, Panglan and Gagalot received financial support and technical assistance from the Foundation, Meralco Sta. Cruz Business Center and the municipality of Majayjay, making it easier for them to apply for their own electricity service connection.

Among those who benefited from the project is Marissa Espares from Barangay Pangil, whose family didn’t have their own access to electricity due to lack of resources. To address their need for electricity at home, her family resorted to submetering electricity from their neighbor. But when their neighbor’s electrical access was cut, the Espares family were then forced to live in the darkness for seven months.

OMF’s flagship program paved the way to energize Espares’ home,with the light bringing smiles to the faces of her children. Five of her children who go to school can also study easier and read better now with lights on at night.

Another beneficiary is Shiela May Exconde, also from Barangay Pangil, used to pay her neighbor P1,500 a month, even if they controlled the use of a single lightbulb, one electric fan, and the occasional use of television at home out of fear that overconsumption would force them to pay a costlier amount. For the Exconde family, it’s a relief to pay just half of what they used to pay their neighbor for electricity now that they have direct electrical access.

Both families also envision a brighter future ahead with more savings, with Espares and Exconde planning to buy appliances such as a refrigerator to preserve their food and even start selling ice candy or offering halo- halo to their neighbors to combat the summer heat. These show how energizing homes can positively impact the immediate community.