LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Four more municipal councils strongly supported an earlier resolution passed by the local legislative body of this capital town that urged the National Electrification Administration (NEA) and the interim Board of Directors of the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) to immediately call for the election or selection of the regular members of the Board of Directors of the electric cooperative to put to rest issues on the proper representation of the member-consumer-owners (MCOs) with the highest governing body of the cooperative.
Under Resolution No. 324, series of 2023, the Itogon municipal council found merit to support Resolution No. 199, series of 2023 passed by the La Trinidad legislative council to address the various issues and concerns being raised on the representations of the consumers to the regular BENECO board.
Further, the Bokod municipal council also passed Resolution No. 128, series of 2023 that supported the La Trinidad council resolution stating among others that it is important to support the same to ensure that the voice of the consumers will be ventilated by the regular members of the board.
The Mankayan municipal council approved Resolution No. 2023-77 which manifested the town’s strong support to Resolution No. 199, series of 2023 of the La Trinidad municipal council that urged for the immediate conduct of the district elections for the regular members of the BENECO Board of Directors.
The council agreed with the stand of La Trinidad to assert the intention of the BENECO constitution and by-laws to be governed by democratically-elected members of the Board of Directors and to certainly resolve related issues and questions affecting the operation and management of the electric cooperative.
On the other hand, the Tuba municipal council approved Resolution No. 204, series of 2023 that urged the NEA and the BENECO interim Board of Directors of BENECO to immediately call for the election of the cooperative’s policy-making body to put to rest the issues on the proper representation of the MCOs.
According to the said resolution, the interim board otherwise known as the Task Force BENECO must stay true to their call to be the group of profound individuals who will peacefully turnover the electric cooperative to the next set of duly elected Board of Directors with the simultaneous endorsement of the best practices that they found to be effective for the next set of BENECO leaders and be the ones to supposedly lead in conducting the preparations for the election of the next set of members of the board within at least three months from the date of the passage of the said legislative measure.
Tuba officials argued that the indefinite and prolonged stay of Task Force BENECO or the interim Board of Directors, if found to be unreasonable, might cause unrest among the consumers within its franchise area, especially if the interim board will issue policies that will affect the stabilized cheap power rates and quality service that BENECO consumers have been enjoying for several decades now.
The approved resolution were transmitted by the different municipal councils to the NEA, BENECO and the energy department for information, guidance, ready reference and further needed action.
