LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Support to the appointment of Engr. Melchor S. Licoben as the full-pledge general manager of the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) continues to snowball in the light of an endorsement made by the Board of Administrators of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) for the appointment by the members of the BENECO Board of Directors of lawyer Ana Marie Rafael to the said coveted position.
Last Monday, the provincial board passed Resolution No. 2021-1103 that strongly supported the letter of the members of the BENECO board and employees’ association supporting the appointment of Engr. Licoben as the next general manager of the electric cooperative.
The board pointed out that the NEA should not outrightly disregard the previous endorsements that were made by the province and all the municipalities for the appointment of Engr. Licoben as the next BENECO general manager vice the late GM Gerardo P. Verzosa as the same is also the voice of the hundreds of thousands of member-consumer-owners.
Further, the resolution stated that the NEA should remember that the voice of the member-consumer-owners which was coursed through various correspondences and furnished the same should not be ignored as it is supreme over any other judgment.
Earlier, members of the BENECO board and employees’ association wrote the NEA on April 26, 2021 imploring the NEA board of Administrators to exercise wise judgment in the endorsements of the qualified applicants for BENECO Board of Directors for confirmation and that the same was furnished the various local government units within the electric cooperative’s franchise area.
The letter clearly stated among others the proper process and the appropriate qualifications of a general manager to be appointed for the electric cooperative which the incumbent officer-in-charge who happens to be Engr. Licoben, a native son of Benguet, has undertaken and actually met.
The board pointed out that Engr. Licoben is very much qualified for the aforesaid position having been in the electric cooperative for almost 30 years aside from having undertaken the required trainings and seminars and has occupied the position of assistant general manager, thus, his experience will answer for his competence that the position requires.
The board decided to forward the aforesaid resolution to the NEA Board of Administrators through Atty. Vicar Laureen G. Franco, NEA Deputy Administrator for Electric Cooperative Management Services, for information and favorable consideration.
Last year, the BENECO board passed Resolution No. 2020-90 that appointed Engr. Licoben as the general manager of BENECO vice GM Gerardo P. Verzosa and the same was transmitted to the NEA for supposed confirmation but the aforesaid resolution was never acted upon by the NEA and instead decided to unilaterally re-open the aforesaid position for application that was obviously geared towards entertaining certain personalities that have been endorsed by the powers that be even without passing through the prescribed processes. By HENT
