ZAMBOANGA CITY — Down in Tawi-Tawi, the Philippines' southernmost province, residents of poor fishing villages in remote islands thought they would never be able to have their own electric supply.

Now, they could see each other smile at night even from a far distance, thanks to an $8 million solar electrification project funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Last Friday, US and Philippine officials activated the solar plants installed in some villages when they came to launch a 42-million-peso (about $770,000) port development project in the capital town, Bongao.

Secretary Jesus Dureza, President Arroyo’s adviser for Mindanao Concerns, accompanied US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone and Wendy Jean Chamberlin, assistant administrator of the USAID for the Bureau for Asia and the Near East, to inaugurate the projects under the American Growth With Equity Program (GEM).

Energy Secretary Vince Perez and Muslim autonomous region (ARMM) Governor Parouk Hussin were also with the group.

When completed, the Bongao port project would accommodate larger cargo ships and ferries regularly plying the Mindanao to Malaysia route. “These USAID projects mean so much to the people in Tawi-Tawi and Mindanao because these would open up and increase trades among Southeast Asian countries,” Dureza told reporters on their return to Zamboanga City.

Chamberlin and Ricciardone switched on the electricity in at least 10 villages on Pabaga Island, which is part of the USAID solar project. Dureza said 40 more villages are expected to have electricity in the coming weeks.

“Many villagers, mostly fishermen, were so impressed by the solar project that they could not believed the electricity that lights up their home came from the sun,” Dureza said. “They simply could not believed it and they thanked us, Wendy and Francis, over and over again because they were so happy. It was the first time they have electricity in their houses,” he added.

It was the first time both US officials visited Tawi-Tawi, an island group close to Malaysia’s eastern state of Sabah.

Dureza said Chamberlin and Ricciardone and other US officials were impressed by the security situation and the pristine beaches and resorts in Tawi-Tawi. Ricciardone even brought along his wife Marie and their daughter.

Secretary Perez and Ricciardone spoke to President Gloria Arroyo by cellular phone from the Pabaga Island to report about the projects. “It was a historic phone call because it was the first time that a phone operated on that island because of solar energy,” Dureza said. “This technology from solar power opened the remotest villages in the province to the world and everybody is so happy.”

Chamberlin pledged more US support to developmental projects not only in Tawi-Tawi, but also in other parts of the southern Philippines.

after she was briefed by Philippine officials about the government’s efforts to help uplift the living conditions of people in the area.

“After seeing how these USAID projects have changed the lives of the people, Ms. Chamberlin committed more projects, among them infrastructure and livelihood programs,” Dureza said.

Chamberlin, a career member of the foreign service, most recently served as US ambassador to Pakistan.

Her past assignments include tours in Laos, Morocco, Zaire and service as deputy chief of mission in Kuala Lumpur.