Project brightens up Philippine town

Chinese-funded program to be finished this month provides electricity to 1,000 residents

The northern Philippine town of Baliwet is less than 200 kilometers away from Manila. Despite its relative proximity to the capital city, this remote town in Zambales Province has no access to electricity - a fate it shares with many other poor rural areas in the country.

On Friday, Baliwet residents finally got the chance to have power delivered at their homes, thanks to a solar project launched by the State Grid Corp of China (SGCC), the Philippine National Electrification Administration and the Zambales II Electric Cooperative.