BAGUIO CITY – Four local legislators requested the Board of Directors of the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) to consider increasing the burial assistance it is giving to the nearest kin of member-consumers who pass away.
In their proposed resolution, Councilors Leandro B. Yangot, Jr., Joel Alangsab, Michael Lawana and Arthur Alad-iw recommended to the rural electric cooperative that the current P5,000 burial assistance being given to the nearest kin of member-consumers who pass away should be increased to P10,000.
The proposed resolution stated that the four local legislators had discussed the matters with some members of the Board of Directors of the cooperative where the members of the Board insinuated the need for the local legislative body to come out with its formal request related thereto.
Under the existing guidelines of the financial assistance, BENECO will directly release the P5,000 burial assistance to the nearest kin of the member-consumer who passes away upon the presentation of the necessary documents showing that the recipient is the nearest kin.
Earlier, the BENECO Board of Directors approved a policy to grant burial assistance to the nearest kin of the member-consumers who pass away, provided that, the electric meter shall be in the name of the member.
The local legislators asserted the need for the rural electric cooperative to increase the existing burial assistance so that the family of the member-consumer who die will be able to maximize the same for his or her descent wake and burial.
The proponents of the resolution underscored the importance of increasing the burial assistance to allow the family of the member-consumer who passes away to cope up with the increasing prices of basic goods and services needed in the conduct of the wake and burial of the member-consumer.
BENECO has over 150,000 registered member-consumers equitably distributed within its franchise area in Baguio City and the 13 municipalities of Benguet.
The 4 councilors expressed optimism that the BENECO Board will grant the said request considering that the increase in the burial assistance will surely go a long way for the family members of the deceased member-consumer, especially with the present situation where there has been a continuous increase in the prices of basic goods and services.
The resolution will be forwarded by the local legislative body to the BENECO Board for the information of the members and for their further needed action in the future.
BENECO is a non-stock, non-profit rural electric cooperative registered with the National electrification Administration (NEA) under the provisions of Presidential Decree (PD) No. 269 as amended by the new NEA law that was previously enacted by the Congress of the Philippines.
The grant of the burial assistance to the nearest kin of a member-consumer who passes was part of the initiative of the rural electric cooperative to cleanse its master list of members to ensure that the living ones will be the ones who are using their names on the electric meters of their residences and commercial establishments.
By Dexter A. See
