Quezon’s famous Borawan beach getaway now energized

PADRE BURGOS, Quezon (PNA) – The pristine, picturesque island villages of Lipata and Tulay-Buhangin in the sleepy 4th class municipality of Padre Burgos in the Bondoc Peninsula are finally enjoying electric power via submarine cables.

Padre Burgos Mayor Roger A. Panganiban last week said local officials, townsfolk and villagers were jubilant with the completion of the local electrification project after it got stuck for more than two decades in the drawing board.

Panganiban, together with Vice Mayor Pablito Flores and officials of Quezon Electric Cooperative 1 (QUEZELCO 1), National Electrification Administration (NEA) and Asia Philippines and the two village chiefs, led the switch-on ceremony of the 3-Phase Submarine Cable and Energization Project last Monday, December 10 in the island-village of Lipata.

The idyllic Lipata Island is home to the now famous Borawan Beach, a contraction from the words Boracaybecause of its fine white sand beaches, and Palawan, due to rock-cliff formations on the island’s shoreline.

The island inhabitants are mostly fishermen, boatmen and tour guides for local and foreighn guests.

Panganiban expressed gratitude to NEA, which spearheaded the project in collaboration with Quezelco 1, through the support of the Suarez family.

“Bagama’t mas magastos ang pagpapadaloy ng kuryente sa dalawang barangay dahil kailangan pang maglatag ng dalawang kilometro submarine cable sa dagat ay hindi naman ito naging hadlang sa dalawang ahensya na ituloy ang nabanggit na proyekto (Although the electrification project entails higher costs which requires some two kilometers of submarine cable to reach the two villages, it did not hamper the two agencies bid to continue and complete the project),” Panganiban said.

He said NEA set aside some R50 million for the energization project of the two barangays.

The town mayor also mulled the construction of a bridge by December next year, hopefully set for completion at the end of his third mayoral term.