In a mountain village in the northern Philippines, electricity does not arrive through transmission lines or come from burning imported fossil fuel. It flows from a local river. Each night, as lights flicker on inside scattered homes, the power is generated by a small turbine turning steadily in the dark – built, maintained, and managed by the community itself. “We don’t have to rely on outside power facilities. We decide when to switch it on and off,” says Rodolfo Sagban, chairman of the Lapat Micro Hydro Power Association in Nabuangan village, located in Apayao province. “Most importantly, everyone in the village can access it, regardless of economic status.” Why We Wrote This The Philippines is heavily dependent on imported energy from the Middle East. But this remote Indigenous community in the northern part of the country has spent years building its own energy system, uncoupled from imported fuel. Instead, it runs on water, gravity, and cooperation.…