Section 2Sec./Art. 2

Declaration of Policy. - In cognizance of the objective on the total electrification of the Philippines on an area coverage basis being vital to the welfare of its people and area coverage basis being vital to the welfare of its people and sound development of the nation. It is hereby declared the policy of the State to ensure and accelerate the total electrification of the country and pursue and foster, in an orderly and vigorous manner, the attainment of such objective. For this purpose, the State shall:

(a) Support and assist, to the fullest extent, electric cooperatives adversely affected by a fortuitous event or by force majeure in order to immediately restore electric service recognizing that the absence of electric service after a fortuitous event or by force majeure is a national security issue, thereby:

(1) Facilitating the rescue and relief operations, availability of basic services such as food, water, medicine, and hospitals, and mitigation of civil unrest;

(2) Aiding the normal functioning of local government units (LGUs) and communities, and easing the recovery of the adversely affected individuals and families; and

(3) Complementing the efforts of the affected LGUs in expediting the rendering of aid, assistance, and emergency services, and the reconstruction and rehabilitation of devastated areas.

(b) Provide an orderly and continuing means of financial assistance to electric cooperatives in carrying out their responsibility of providing reliable electric service necessary to alleviate the sufferings and damages brought about by a fortuitous event and force majeure by:

(1) Allocating funds in the form of grants for disaster mitigation, disaster preparedness, and restoration or rehabilitation of electric cooperatives' damaged facilities that are readily accessible;

(2) Providing a streamlined process for the availment of the fund; and

(3) Requiring the electric cooperatives to develop and implement comprehensive vulnerability and risk assessments which identify disaster preparedness and mitigation measures to protect and strengthen critical infrastructure assets, and emergency response plans to address immediate restoration or rehabilitation efforts.