When the countryside lived simply with only moonlight in the sky, aided by a “petromax or gasera” inside the homes during the night; when the western part of Misamis Oriental lived through the shadows cast by Iligan and Cagayan de Oro which already enjoyed the perks of having electricity, the Philippine Government dreamt of cascading development to the farthest reach, through which, Misamis Oriental-1 Rural Electric Service Cooperative or MORESCO-1, was born, pioneering electrification through cooperation.
Through the strong representation of Senator Emmanuel Pelaez, hailing from Misamis Oriental himself, Republic Act 2717 otherwise known as the Electrification Administration Act came into life in the year 1960. Hence, Senator Pelaez came to be known as the Father of Philippine Rural Electrification and Missionary Electrification Program.
In October of 1962, President Diosdado Macapagal implemented the law and the government policy to furnish inexpensive and dependable power facilities for the promotion of agricultural and industrial development. With this, the National Electrification Administration, a government agency responsible for the supervision of all the electric cooperatives in the country were created.
MORESCO-1, came into being as a result of the survey and feasibility study carried out in 1967 by a team contracted by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with the U.S National Rural Electric Service Cooperative Association (NRECA). NRECA also furnished advisors to MORESCO and the other pilot project built concurrently in Negros Occidental; the Victorias-Manapla-Cadiz Rural Electric Service Cooperative (VRESCO), a system complete with generating facilities.
MORESCO-1 was formally organized in 1967 with ten (10) districts, one (1) in each municipality which was being represented by a director. It was organized from the 50-peso payments of 100 incorporators to generate the 5,000 peso capital required by the Philippine laws for registration.
In August of 1968, the cooperative was granted separate loans by the USAID through the Development Bank of the Philippines and a peso counterpart from the Philippine government through NEA, with Former President Ferdinand Marcos, as the main signatory of the agreement of the said entities with MORESCO-1.
A year later, in September, Republic Act 5445 paved the way for MORESCO-1’s acquisition of the franchise area, for its electric service delivery to the communities in the Western district of Misamis Oriental.
The original franchise area of MORESCO-1 covers only the 10 municipalities in the Western part of Misamis Oriental. In conformity with its missionary electrification thrust and due to the request of the communities, MORESCO-1 has expanded its reach to the non-viable 15 barangays of Cagayan de Oro City, part of Talakag and Baungon in the Province of Bukidnon; and Barangay Hindang of Iligan City which was originally within the franchise area of a private distribution utility.
In 2004, MORESCO-1 achieved 100% energization of 156 barangays under its coverage area thereby nailing it a record. It is now working on bringing the power lines to the sitios.
MORESCO-1 became the first electric cooperative certified by the Investors in People (IIP) with bronze status in 2012. In 2015, MORESCO-1 has been accorded with gold status by the IIP.
In 2017, MORESCO-1 became the first electric cooperative in the country to be 100% compliant to PDC.
51 years after its inception, MORESCO-1 is still ably manned through the years – technically, institutionally and financially — the people behind its success are its most significant asset, together with the people and institutions, it has worked with.
Energizing development, Empowering lives.