MANILA,--Sep 6--PRNewswire/AsiaNet The completion later this month of a US$650-million irrigation and power project initiated by CE Casecnan Water and Energy Company is bolstering the efforts of the Philippine government to modernize agriculture in the country and cut rice importation. The Philippine government has proposed expenditures amounting to US$368 million under the country's Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act to be used for irrigation, post-harvest facilities, infrastructure, and agricultural research. The government hopes the increase in funding will enable the Philippines to increase rice production by 1 million metric tons and corn production by 100,000 metric tons. MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, the parent company of CE Casecnan, said the impending completion of the Casecnan Multipurpose Irrigation and Power Project shows the dynamic public and private sector cooperation in the country. The Philippine government's National Irrigation Administration (NIA) is CE Casecnan's co-proponent for the project. "The synergy between the Philippine government's agricultural modernization thrusts and the increased private sector participation will fuel the expected rebound of the Philippine economy," said David Sokol, MidAmerican chairman and CEO. Sokol stressed that the leadership of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her focus on foreign investments to spur the Philippine economy have helped buoy investor confidence in the Philippines. "President Arroyo is taking the issues very seriously, and I think she recognizes the need to maintain a very consistent economic climate for future investment," Sokol said. The Casecnan project, a Build-Operate-and-Transfer project initiated in 1995. Ownership will be passed on to the Philippines after 20 years at no additional cost to the Philippine government, and NIA is envisioned to run the facility for at least another 30 years. The Project construction is complete, and commissioning is under way. The 26-kilometer underground tunnel is in the process of being filled with water from the Project's intake weirs -- small dams that divert water from the Casecnan and Taan rivers in Nueva Vizcaya into the tunnel, on to the NIA-managed Pantabangan Reservoir in Nueva Ecija. Testing of the power component of the Project is also under way. An underground powerhouse capable of generating a total of 150 MW of renewable hydroelectric power has been completed, and testing is being done on the facility's generating units. Sokol said that the commissioning was progressing well and that the facility would be ready for inauguration on September 28. MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company has invested heavily in the Philippines since 1994. Including the Casecnan Project, the company presently has US$1.4 billion worth of investments in the Philippines. It has three geothermal power plants in Leyte province, providing 540 megawatts to Luzon and Cebu. "We've been here eight years, and I can say that President Arroyo has brought in one of the best administrations we have seen in the Philippines. We are pleased to be here, and we are confident that the business climate is on its way back up," Sokol said. SOURCE CE Casecnan Water and Energy CONTACT: Robert Eugenio CE Casecnan Water and Energy Tel: +63-32-892-0276