Caring for the forgotten! Turtle Islands Now Connected; Next Target: Solar Power Plant

For the first time in their lives yesterday, the people of the Turtle Islands, the farthest municipality of Tawitawi Province which is just one-hour away from Sandakan, Sabah by speedboat, danced and celebrated the Green Sea Turtles Day with tens of thousands watching them live on Facebook and via Zoom.

President Rodrigo Duterte also made history as the first President of the Philippines to directly address the people of the remote island in a pre-recorded message beamed via VSAT installed by the Dept. of Information and Communications Technology.

The VSAT connected the people of the remote islands, who used to get faint signals from Malaysian TELCOs, to the rest of the Philippines and they could now send text messages and even call relatives and friends in the country.

The establishment of the VSAT was a commitment I made to the people of the islands when I went there in March 2020 to become only the second Cabinet level official to get there.

The satellite connection was one of the issues raised during the consultations with the people with electric power and sufficient supply of potable water listed as second and third most important needs in the islands.

With the satellite connection established, the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) will coordinate with the Department of Energy for the establishment of a Solar Power Generation Facility in the main island, Taganak.

With the establishment of a solar-powered generation plant, a water desalination facility could be set up along with an ice-making facility to boost fish production.

Hopefully, before the end of the term of President Duterte the people of the Turtle Islands will feel that they are cared for and they belong.

#KungGustoMaramingParaan!

#GovernanceIsCommonSense!

(Photos of the solar panels and the ice-maker were downloaded from public websites while the photo of the steam-powered fish dryer was taken by MinDA staff.)