TEAM Energy Donates Building to BENECO

Team Energy has recently signed the Deed of Donation that formalized the turnover of P10 million to BENECO that was used for the construction of the first phase of the electric cooperative’s training center at barangay Alapang, La Trinidad.

The donation was used to complete the foundation and first floor structure of a two storey building meant to serve as a training institution.

The deed of donation dated January 22, 2024 said that building which will serve as an “educational institution building with training and lodging facilities for the main purpose of conducting technical and non-technical training activities for BENECO employees and from those other cooperatives in the Cordillera region and other parts of the country.”

Team Energy is BENECO’s power supplier and the donation was coursed through its social development arm, Team Energy Foundation, Inc. (TEFI).

Asking Team Energy for a donation started during the time of the late GM Gerardo Verzosa n a bid to give chance for Benguet’s young people who are financially challenged and whose parents cannot afford to send them to college.

The BENECO Board of Directors (BOD) approved the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Team Energy for the donation in May 2018.

The construction for Phase I (structural and roofing) of the building started in July, 2022 through Arch. Elvis Palicdon who turned over the structure to Team Energy in June, 2023.

BENECO needs P13 million more to complete the second phase of the building that includes finishing works.

The TEFI said that it granted BENECO’s request to fund the building in recognition of the electric cooperative’s “treasure trove of experience and practice in the sustainable operations of a distribution utility(DU) that it would like to share with neighboring DUs and others in the other regions of the country as well, their (BENECO) sustainable practices through classroom-type training and education”.

Mitsuhiro Kojima of TEFI and Steve Cating, chairperson of the BENECO Task Force, signed the deed of donation.

The building followed the establishment of the BENECO Skills Development Training Center (BSDTC) at Abatan, Buguias which is a TESDA accredited technical vocational school.

The school offers linemen training certification and other skills training courses such as welding, electrical installation maintenance and massage therapy.

“Working hard to realize his dream for BENECO, the late GM Verzosa exhausted all avenues looking for funding that will not burden the consumers. Coupled with his genius in financial engineering, he tirelessly requested the top leaders of TEAM Energy for the donation”, recalled Engr. Jo Calawen, a member of the committee formed to work on the training center.

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