BAGUIO CITY – The Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) is studying the possibility of filing contempt charges against officials of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) and their allies for allegedly sanctioning and allowing the conduct of a purported general assembly of the camp of lawyer Ana Marie Rafael that was held at the Benguet State University (BSU) gymnasium in La Trinidad amidst the pendency of legal issues in the Court of Appeals (CA) and in violation of a status quo order handed down by the House of Representatives.
BENECO general manager Engr. Melchor S. Licoben disclosed that he will be consulting his legal team on the matter so that NEA officials and their allies who worked out and facilitated the conduct of the questionable assembly will face the consequences of their actions.
He also questioned the oathtaking of Rafael which is also a gross violation of the aforesaid status quo order to ensure the continuous delivery of quality services to the member-consumer-owners (MCOs).
The BENECO official pointed out a purported appointee can take oath before personalities for a dozen times but the fact remains that she does not have any cooperative to manage.
Earlier, the House of Representatives passed a resolution for the NEA-Board of Administrators to maintain a status quo in the leadership of BENECO currently under the stewardship of Licoben who was unanimously appointed by the Board of Directors as general manager way back in April 2020 and for the same to observe its established regulations in the appointment of a general manager.
On the other hand, Licoben petitioned the CA to issue a writ of preliminary injunction preventing the NEA-BOA from enforcing its series of resolutions insisting the appointment of Rafael because of legal questions on the screening and selection process that was undertaken aside from the fact that the said appointee is not even qualified and not recommended for the position of general manager of an electric cooperative.
Despite the present leadership impasse confronting the electric cooperative, BENECO remains to be one of the country’s top performing electric cooperatives even if the NEA is continuously finding ways on how to force its way to implement the assailed NEA-BOA resolutions.
According to him, BENECO officials, the remaining members of the Board of Directors and the employees are drawing their strength from the overwhelming support being shown by the member-consumer-owners who continue to stay with them in their ongoing fight on what is just and appropriate for the electric cooperative to achieve its goals and objectives in implementing the government’s Sitio Electrification Program (SEP) and allowing consumers to enjoy cheap power rates and quality service.
He rallied the consumers to continue extending to the legitimate BENECO their support by paying their power bills on time and in the duly authorized payment centers to ensure that their payments will be reflected in the system that was created purposely to ensure the effective and efficient operation of the electric cooperative.
