The Isabela II Electric Cooperative (ISELCO II) has now counted itself among the list of community-owned distribution utilities that are still going strong for four decades and counting.

ISELCO II held its 40th anniversary celebration last Friday (April 6) with NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong serving as one of its honored guests and keynote speakers.

The Ilagan City-based power distribution firm received nothing but praise from the electrification chief, who commended its ability to stay above the weather, which enabled it to become one of the best performing electric cooperatives (ECs) today.

Masongsong said he found Iselco II’s fleet of well-maintained service vehicles, sleek workspaces for its 300-strong employees, spruced up engineering building and warehouses complete with tools and other equipment highly impressive.

He described them as “living proof” of its sound financial health, not to mention its capacity to provide P10,000 as anniversary incentive to each of the co-op’s officials and staff, regardless of their employment status.

“Truly, ISELCO II deserves recognition of what it has done and what it will be doing, consistent with the NEA-EC-MCO vision of sustainable rural development through rural electrification,” the administrator said.

ISELCO II is led by its board chairman Walfrido Binag and general manager David Solomon Siquian, who is also the newly elected chairman of the Philippine Federation of Electric Cooperatives (Philfeco).

Also present during the anniversary rites were top personalities in the rural electrification industry namely Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc. (Philreca) president Presley de Jesus, Rural Electrification Financing Corporation (REFC) board president Iglorio Hinayon, and REFC chief executive officer Tomas Villaflor.