BEHIND THE SCENES
Alfred P. Dizon
BAGUIO CITY – The Benguet Electric Cooperative Interim Board announced Thursday it will be opening the position of general manager for the Beneco in three weeks.
Lawyer George Dumawing Jr. bared this to leaders of member-consumer-owners of the power firm in a meeting at the Beneco headquarters here at South Drive saying the job opening will be published in national and local newspapers.
Dumawing, member of the Interim Board said this was what the National Electrification Administration wanted -- to “return to normalcy” the state of affairs of the power coop disrupted by the NEA itself when it appointed Ana Marie Rafael of the then Presidential Communications Operations Office as Beneco general manager even if engineer Melchor Licoben was already the GM.
Licoben was appointed by the previous board of directors as GM but the NEA never confirmed his appointment.
Much had happened after that like the MCOs taking back Beneco from the NEA at its main headquarters here at South Drive.
But five months ago, NEA administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda entered the Beneco headquarters at South Drive, accompanied by Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong and a police SWAT team and “took over” the highly efficient power coop.
MCOs and MCOs were silent about the matter when Magalong announced it was a “win-win” solution to solve the impasse. But most had misgiving based from Facebook posts. It was a “grand betrayal,” they said.
The NEA immediately installed five interim board members, most of whom were reportedly also not qualified for the posts. The NEA then announced elections will be held in six months to elect new board members.
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But on Thursday Dumawing said the Interim Board would first settle the GM issue before scheduling elections, thus the opening to the public for the post.
He said the interim board would appoint the next GM based from the list of applicants. MCOs said it was unfair for the interim board to do this since they were not elected by MCOs to select and appoint the next GM.
But Dumawing said this was what the NEA wanted. Some MCOs said they could not trust the NEA anymore considering the mayhem it inflicted on Beneco.
Others said if the NEA was sincere in restoring normalcy in the power firm, it should just confirm the appointment of Licoben by the previous Board since it was the NEA itself which approved the process of selecting a GM before the Covid-19 pandemic.
MCOs said it was a waste of money for another selection process to be done considering Licoben was selected and appointed already and all the NEA had to do was confirm his appointment.
Another MCO said since the list of applicants for Beneco GM is open nationwide, it would be unfair for an applicant from Mindanao to be chosen as Beneco GM considering Licoben had spent more than 30 years working in Beneco, rising from the ranks, and meeting all qualifications for the post.
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The meeting between the Interim Board and some MCO leaders Thursday was cordial.
But when Interim Boar members were told to just press for the NEA to confirm Licoben’s appointment as GM, Dumawing said they would not want to ruffle the feathers of NEA bigshots considering Almeda gave his word the NEA would respect what the Interim Board would select and appoint as GM.
Dumawing said he was requesting the MCOs to trust the NEA and Interim Board this time to do the “right process” in selecting the Beneco GM.
This made an MCO blurt if the NEA could not be trusted to follow its rules and procedures like in appointing a GM, how could it be trusted this time?
Indeed for NEA to be trusted, all it has to do is confirm the appointment of Licoben by the previous board as GM. It will save a lot of time, money and effort. As an adage goes: Simple does it.
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Members of the Interim Board present during Thursday’s meeting were Elma Donaal, pastor Sol De Guia and Joaquin Depalog Jr. Member Steve Cating was absent.
Much of the discussion was centered on the GM issue and on electing new board members. Dumawing did not disclose a date for the elections, but said Beneco’s annual general membership assembly (AGMA) would be held on June 3, 10 and 17 this year.
What troubled some MCOs during the meeting was the announcement of acting GM Ramel Rifani that in the NEA’s appointment of the Interim Board, no date was set for their disbandment.
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The Interim Board meanwhile did not disclose results of the audit on Rafael’s camp like where the P58 million fund for special electrification projects and around P42 million payments they collected from Beneco power users went.
The MCOs deserve to know the audit results considering the NEA said it would be transparent on the matter. This, also since the NEA accused Beneco of financial mismanagement. MCOs have a right to know since the NEA used the audit as its “basis” for terminating previous board members dubbed “Magnificent 7” who appointed Licoben as GM and standing by him even if the NEA appointed Rafael to take his place.
The next few days are crucial for Beneco as the NEA and the Interim Board it appointed is proceeding with its “process” of selecting a GM.
The MCOs are apparently biding their time, weighing their options, but for sure, the NEA is testing the waters through its Interim Board.
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