More Beneco gripes / 'Solid North Alliance' new officers take oath

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

BAGUIO CITY – The Northern Philippine Times was about to go to press when we got word that many items submitted to the Benguet Electric Cooperative  for inclusion in the agenda set for different dates this coming June during general assemblies in Baguio and Benguet were not included.
    Beneco member-consumer-owners (MCOS) were asking if it was the interim board, a secretary or others who did not include their proposed topics to be discussed in the agenda.      
    One such topic they wanted for inclusion in the agenda was the issue of power rates being negotiated with Team Energy.     This was a sensitive topic, they said, since it would affect Beneco power consumers in the long run and it should not be the National Electrification Agency which should negotiate in behalf of Beneco.
    This, considering Beneco management, under general manager engineer Melchor Licoben and the Magnificent 7 directors were already negotiating with Team Energy and getting favorable results when the first “takeover” of Beneco was attempted months ago.
    Anyway, back to the present, MCOs were saying other topics in the agenda not included in the published notices should be discussed during the open forum. They feared they could be ruled out of order.
    They have a point. Publishing the submitted topics not included in earlier published items would show transparency. The MCOs are awaiting action of the interim board on this. Would they be up to the task? More on this later. The presses are already rolling.
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New officers of the Northern Luzon Alliance, a group of congressmen mostly belonging to the tobacco-producing provinces, took their oath of office led by President Ferdinand Marcos R. Marcos Jr. Tuesday in Malacanang.
    Marcos' son, Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander "Sandro" Marcos III, serves as NLA’s honorary chairperson.
    The NLA's new officers include Ilocos Norte 2nd District Representative Angelo Marcos Barba (president), Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Dalog Jr. (executive vice president), Pangasinan 1st District Rep. Arthur Celeste, (vice president for Region 1), Isabela 1st District Rep. Antonio Albano (vice president for Region 2), CAR and Kalinga Rep. Allen Jesse Mangaoang (vice president) and ABONO Party-list Rep. Robert Raymund Estrella (vice president).
    Other NLA officials are La Union 1st District Rep. Franciso Paolo Ortega V (secretary), Ilocos Sur 2nd District Rep. Kristine Singson-Meehan (treasurer), and Isabela 4th District Rep. Joseph Tan (auditor).
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Marcos dominated the May 9, 2022 presidential race in the "Solid North," a long-running stronghold of his family. 
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday urged lawmakers in his bailiwick, the so-called "Solid North," to strengthen the regional bloc's alliance and maintain its relevance for the benefit of the country.
    Marcos, in his speech, acknowledged the Northern Luzon lawmakers' solidarity saying this was evident even during the time of his father, the late president Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., considered the patriarch of Ilocanos and the region’s politicians.
    He, however, acknowledged that the NLA had to endure "difficult times" when the group was considered "politically irrelevant."
    Despite this, the President expressed appreciation for the alliance's strong commitment to remain united and stay in power, even after the Marcoses fell out of favor politically for decades with the subsequent administrations that followed.
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“Those times that we went through that, the Ilocano bloc remained solid. And the result is that we are now here celebrating the taking of the oath of new officers of the Northern Alliance here in the Palace,” the government-run Philippine News Agency quoted Marcos as saying.
    “Kaya’t let us take that as our lesson that really what has kept us going, what has kept us strong, and what has kept us relevant in national politics,” he added.
    Marcos echoed observations that Ilocanos are "overrepresented" in government and in politics because Filipinos appreciate them for being "good workers who bring value to government service."
    He encouraged the solons from the "Solid North" to keep going, assuring them that they will get the support they need from his administration.
    “And there is maybe a point to that, but the reason that is – is because we help each other because we stay solid," Marcos said.
    “And that has kept us afloat through all the lean years kung tawagin (that we call), through all the lean years. And as I said, now the solidarity and the strength of the Ilocano bloc has remained and it has served us well. So let us keep it going. And now instead only fighting up, may katulong na kayo dito sa taas (you now have our support),” he added.
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This corner is wondering if the rest of Cordillera congressional Representatives are members of the NLA. Just asking, but over the years, it was members of political parties aligned with the present administration that got the goodies in terms of millions or billions of pesos worth of funding for projects.
    Some constituents have often complained they didn’t experience the moolah trickling for the betterment of their lives due to mismanagement or corruption but that is another story.