Why a PCOO Asec in a Beneco tussle?

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

Town mayors representing Itogon, Tuba, Tublay and Kabayan finally signed last week their respective Memorandum of Agreement with the Benguet Electric Cooperative for the repair and maintenance of unmetered streetlights under the account of the municipality.
    Under the MOA, the Second Party represented by Beneco shall be responsible for the administration, maintenance and repair of the unmetered streetlight systems of the municipality, including lighting fixtures, bulbs and photo switches.
    The First Party municipality will engage the services of Beneco for the purpose of hastening maintenance, delivery and repair of the unmetered streetlights within the municipality, and will pay the Second Party (Beneco) the equivalent of 14 burning hours of electric consumption of the unmetered streetlights from the date of execution of the MOA until 2028.
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The popular Tagalog saying “Ako ang nagsaing, iba ang kumain” defines the situation the Beneco is presently in following endorsements and letters sent to the National Electrification Administration for it to approve recommendations on who should sit as new manager.
    Beneco officials, managers and employees urged the NEA board to endorse OIC manager engineer Melchor S. Licoben as general manager who is highly qualified, more competent and more dedicated to the EC that he helped improve as he rose from the ranks in his more than 30 years of work.
    At the same time, they disputed the credentials of ASec. Anna Marie Rafael Bana-ag of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) and opposed her application as Beneco general manager.
    They have valid reasons to do so considering that they know the real situation for being in the electric business for the longest time.
     Now, Beneco officials and power consumers are mystified why an assistant secretary of the PCOO headed by Sec. Martin Andanar is applying as GM. Maybe the good Sec. Andanar knows why.
    Anybody who does not have the necessary training and work experience in a power company should have the common sense to discern if s/he is fit for the job or not. The Beneco BOD knows that. But conversations with the applicants can twist choices, depending on personal priorities.
    Anybody can apply to an open position on the basis of listed requirements. But the first consideration of a job applicant to any position is to be honest in assessing oneself if s/he is qualified based on what is called for by the real situation on the ground.
    The top position in an electric utility is better left to the more qualified experts who have worked in that field all their life, unless the requirements to the position are waived by the endorsing body, and that interviews are for compliance only.    
    That is why in their letter to the NEA, the Beneco officials said they are curious to find out how the PCOO assistant secretary could have hurdled the qualifications they described as “pass or fail” category, for which she could have failed.
    Certainly questions related to the management of distribution lines, power generation and consumption in the franchise area, and the nitty-gritty in operating an electric utility, if these were asked could not have been answered by the applicant.
That is why the Beneco letter to NEA said they are “interested to know the points gathered by both applicants and how the work experience and qualifications were factored into the selection.”  
    Citing NEA Memorandum No. 2017-035, a general manager must have at least five years of experience with proven track record in effective management of a successful electric utility-related business enterprise, held two or more senior management positions involving business leadership or managerial functions and must have no derogatory or adverse administrative record in any previous employments.
    Beneco officials are now in a quandary as to how Asec. Bana-ag possessed the foregoing qualifications which are mandatory. The Beneco letter further noted that both applicants may possess dedication and high integrity, but there must be competence which means “know-how, skills and experience” where for sure, Licoben is above par.
    The Beneco executives noted that the selection of a GM under NEA Memo No. 2017-035 provides two options – one, to recruit through publication; and two, for the BOD to choose from the department managers. The Beneco board chose the second option and endorsed  Licoben to be directly appointed as GM.
    This could have spared NEA the time spent for recruiting a new GM since it is the BOD itself which made clear its decision for Licoben to take the helm of the EC following the provisions of the memorandum that NEA approved on Oct. 24, 2017.
    By the way, I read a statement by PCOO Asec. Bana-ag on the messenger chat group of the media that dragged the former management into the tussle with an insinuation about how Beneco was managed in the past. I thought that was unnecessary and unfair because the one alluded to is no longer around to answer.
    NEA officials should seriously consider that Licoben has the support of the consumer-owners of Beneco; including LGUs in the franchise area, organizations and other sectors that wrote endorsements through resolutions, copies of which were earlier furnished to NEA.
    NEA knows that there are ECs around the country that are barely surviving and need more assistance, including those in Abra, Kalinga and Mountain Province. If there are applicants who think they have the expertise, then they can be endorsed to the position.
    Through the years, NEA saw how Beneco officials and the workers who have been with the utility for the longest time struggled to make the EC what it is now. The support to the affairs of Beneco by its member-consumers who own the EC must not be ignored, unless NEA thinks otherwise.