House resolution: Retain Licoben as Beneco GM

NEA told: Maintain status quo 

BAGUIO CITY – The committee on energy of the House of Representatives filed House Resolution 2239 Thursday “urging the National Electrification Administration  Board of Administrators to strictly adhere to and comply with provisions of NEA memorandum no. 207-035, on the selection of general managers of electric cooperatives, particularly on the case of the Benguet Electric Cooperative and to take the appropriate actions to fulfill the mandate of the NEA as specified in Presidential Decree No. 269, as amended, as the government agency with supervisory powers and functions over electric cooperatives.”      

   HB 2239 stated the “NEA should be admonished because it committed grave abuse of discretion due to lack of jurisdiction, in the issuance and hiring of general managers.”
    HB 2239 added, “The ‘status quo’ must be observed on retaining the current Officer-In-Charge of Beneco until all issues of the general manager have been resolved to ensure that there will be no interregnum that will affect the operations and services of the Beneco.”
    Engineer Melchor Licoben is the current Beneco OIC general manager who is currently dispensing his duties as GM like signing checks and directing daily operations of the electric cooperative.
    He was earlier appointed as GM by the Beneco Board of Directors.
    The problem started when lawyer Anna Marie Rafael was recently “appointed” by the NEA BOA as GM.
    This was questioned by the Beneco Board of Directors who said it is only BODs of electric cooperatives who can appoint their GM.
    They said the NEA cannot appoint the GM of an EC.
    Rafael, former Assistant Secretary of the Presidential Communications Office has since holed up in the Dumol Hall of the Beneco main office here in South Drive until the city government ordered the establishment closed last weekend for anti-Covid disinfection since some 10 workers were reportedly infected with the Covid-19 virus.
    Beneco workers said Rafael’s occupying Dumol Hall hampered their work.
    The building is set for reopening tomorrow.       
    HB 2239 was introduced by Reps. Presley C. de Jesus, Sergio C. Dagooc, Adriano A. Ebcas, Godofredo N. Guya, Juan Miguel M. Arroyo, Jericho Jonas B. Nograles, Hector S. Sanchez, Abdullah D. Dimaporo, Luisa Lloren Cuaresma, Diego C. Ty, John Marvin C. Nieto, Alyssa Sheena P. Tan, Ruth Mariano-Hernandez, Jose Gay G. Padiernos, Rose Marie “Baby” Arenas, Rufus B. Rodriguez, Crystal L. Bagatsing and Tyrone Agabas.
    HB 2239 resolved that, “The Department of Energy, through its Secretary, and the NEA, through its administrator, shall be furnished with this Committee Report and the House adopts the attached House Resolution (2239.)”
    Committee members earlier said the NEA’s appointing Rafael was ‘ultra vires’ or beyond the power of the NEA.
    The committee earlier on Sept. 7 voted to direct the NEA board of administrators to strictly follow the selection process for the Beneco GM as defined under NEA Memorandum No. 2017-035.
    They said only Board of Directors of electric cooperatives can appoint their respective general managers.
    The House committee told the NEA BOA to revoke Resolution 2021 – 47 it earlier released appointing Rafael.
    In approving the resolution, the congressmen said there was no vacancy in the position of GM when the NEA – BOA appointed Rafael, a former mayor of Natonin, Mountain Province.
    The resolution said that NEA-BOA’s action “clearly constituted an ultra vires act,” an act done beyond one’s legal power or authority.
    The congressmen told the NEA BOA to follow the law (the electric cooperative law) wherein it “is quite clear that the powers of the NEA over EC’s are supervisory in nature and not be tantamount to control.”
    While telling said BOA that it is not very familiar with the selection process, the congressmen said that its members “clearly violated or abused their power.”
    They further said: “The NEA BOA interpreted the selected provisions of its issuance that will only cater to its intention,” adding “the discretionary power and authority to appoint a GM belongs exclusively to the BOD of the EC concerned and not to the BOA of the NEA.”
    The selection and appointment of the GM, the congressmen said, “belongs exclusively to the BOD of the EC concerned and not the BOA of the NEA.”
    Selecting and appointing the GM of Beneco, they added “is an overreach of their powers (and) is an ultra vires act.”
    Noted Baguio lawyer Lauro Gacayan in a post on Facebook compared the NEA – BOA to the Judicial and Bar Council which interviews qualified persons for the position of justices and judges and submit three names to the President from whom the latter will choose his appointee.
    In bold letters, Gacayan said: “they cannot submit only one name to the president, otherwise that is tantamount for the JBC making the appointment, not the president.”
    Beneco had two applicants, Rafael and Licoben, who were both interviewed and given a battery of tests by the NEA BOA, however, it was only Rafael’s name that was forwarded to the Beneco board of directors.
He added: “No choice (in caps). In short, they (NEA – BOA) arrogated the power of the BOD to appoint the General Manager.     They also violated their own Rules.”
    Meanwhile, lawyers of Rafael filed charges of “contempt, gross insubordination willful violation of NEA rules and conduct prejudicial to the interest of the Cooperative and its member-consumers against seven directors and two officers of Beneco.”
    Rafael filed on Sept. 6 the complaint against directors Esteban Songi, Jeffred Acop, Mike Maspil, Peter Busaing, Jonathan Obar, Josephine Tuling and Robert Valentin as well as Licoben and Institutional Services Department head Delmar Carino.
    Rafael, in her complaint asked NEA to “suspend and subsequently dismiss and penalize the officers for open defiance of NEA.”
    Carino said they filed a counter-affidavit with the NEA over the issue saying is now with the Court of Appeals and it should be the CA which should rule over the matter.  -- AD