NEA did not follow its rules on Beneco GM row? / P10-B released to ‘red-tagging’

 BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

BAGUIO CITY – Now is the time for the Benguet Electric Cooperative’s (Beneco) Board of Directors to unite and show central government offices that they are one with power consumers and residents of Baguio City and Benguet who voted them into office.
    They should stand tall and insist that engineer Melchor Licoben, the incumbent Beneco general manager should be confirmed as GM.
    Licoben who had started as worker with the Beneco for the past 30 years, and rose up the ranks, has all the qualifications to sit as GM, having been endorsed to the post by all local government units of Baguio City and Benguet.  
    The Beneco board of directors, which earlier appointed Licoben to the post in a resolution, should now question the National Electrification Agency for apparently violating its rules when it endorsed Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCCO) Assistant Sec. Anna Marie Rafael Banaag to sit as Beneco GM.
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The NEA had stipulated qualifications in a circular which a GM has to meet -- like working for at least five years with an electric cooperative. A GM must also be an electrical engineer, attended power industry seminars, among others which Licoben did.
    Banaag apparently did not meet those qualifications but the NEA board of administrators still endorsed only her to the Beneco board of directors to confirm as GM.
    Where they got the numbers for Banaag after rating both is a mystery as unfathomable as the deep blue sea.
    The Philreca, Cagmec among other organizations and concerned individuals had opposed this having endorsed Licoben as GM. The groups criticized the NEA for not following its rules on selection of Beneco GM.
    The NEA reportedly wrote the Beneco BOA to confirm Banaag as GM last Friday or it would install her as GM.
This, after presidential spokesman Harry Roque aired on television Banaag would take over as Beneco GM which Licoben currently holds as officer in charge.
    Banaag wrote President Duterte in 2020 to have her appointed as Beneco GM. Following that, the NEA BOA delayed the confirmation and appointment of Licoben as GM even if the Beneco BOD made a resolution confirming his appointment to sit as GM since last year.
    As PCOO Asec, Banaag is just a room away from the seat of power in Malacanang and knows Roque.
    The government does not own Beneco. It is registered as a cooperative. The government, through the NEA may have supervisory functions over power coops. But like other government agencies, NEA has reportedly forced itself in affairs of Beneco like in appointment of its GM -- a right which should be vested solely on the constitution and by-laws of the power coop like in the process of choosing its board of directors, executives like the GM or its workers.  
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There was a time when the late Beneco GM Gerardo Verzosa was installed by the NEA in 1989 to manage the power cooperative. But this was a time when Beneco was ailing, meaning it was not financially viable and electrical power was only 110 voltage. It is now much more powerful at 120.
    Over the years, Beneco, under the late Verzosa and its other executives including Licoben tirelessly toiled until Beneco attained a Triple A classification, meaning, it now one of the best power cooperatives in the country with the lowest power rates.
    Beneco is not ailing now. It is actually the perfect example of what an electric cooperative in the country should be. Thus the NEA should not barrel its way and install what it wants as GM of the power cooperative.
    The NEA BOA now wants a Malacanang official in the person of Banaag to take over Beneco.  The NEA BOA endorsed Banaag to sit as Beneco GM in place of Licoben apparently disregarding its rules.
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The government, like the NEA should be judiciously run not on vested interests of those in the agency. They should also follow rules and regulations. The NEA reportedly wrote the Beneco BOD to confirm Banaag as GM as of Friday otherwise they would install her.  
    But then, some Beneco consumers filed for a temporary restraining order with a local court which granted their request for 72 hours.
    The next venue to settle the matter may be the court which could discuss merits of the case since the NEA and Palace officials are reportedly bent on installing Banaag as GM.
    It is the right of Beneco members and power consumers to choose the GM they really want. Not somebody who just got the graces from a building beside the filthy Pasig River which may have affected their brains.
    We have nothing personal against Banaag. We actually find her pretty. But being a Beneco member, we are concerned. If the NEA doesn’t follow its own rules in the selection of a GM, then members of power cooperatives have a right to question why as this could be happening nationwide.
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The government this year released billions of pesos to its controversial anti-communist task force, a senator said Tuesday, even as Filipinos enduring one of the world's longest pandemic lockdowns wait for financial aid. 
    The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict has already received P10.68 billion of its P19 billion budget for 2021, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said, citing data from the Department of Budget and Management.      Over P7 billion was released to the NTF-ELAC in April when lawmakers were calling for its budget to be realigned to the government's pandemic response over its spokespersons' incessant red-tagging of community pantry organizers. Another P3.14 billion was released on March 24. 
    Meanwhile, Drilon noted, a proposal to give P8,000 in aid to private-sector workers is in flux due to a lack of funding. A Bayanihan 3 measure which would give emergency cash subsidies to vulnerable households and replenish the government's dwindling pandemic funds, is also pending due to uncertainties over available funds, he added. 
    "Why do you seem to be in a hurry to release the budget? Why is the Marawi rehabilitation fund coming out so slowly? Where will this P10.68 billion be used?” the senator asked in Filipino. 
    A bulk of the NTF-ELAC's budget, P16.4 billion, goes to its Barangay Development Program — the manner of disbursement for which Drilon has flagged on several occasions as affording the task force too much discretion. 
    The senator also reiterated his call on the task force to submit a quarterly report on the utilization of its funds to Congress as mandated by the 2021 General Appropriations Act. 
    “Where did the P10.68 billion go? What barangay? What city or town has benefited from this? In the spirit of transparency, let us publish the data and inform the public," he said.