BAGUIO CITY – A 3-storey building to house the various offices of the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) is expected to rise along South Drive within the next six months in order to serve as the cooperative’s one-stop shop.
Leonardo Belingon, BENECO consumer welfare officer, disclosed the P80 million structure already commenced construction in a portion of the property that was purchased by the rural electric cooperative to help improve its services to the rapidly growing power consumers.
“We want the structure to be completed in the next six months and we hope there are no obstacles that will impede the on-going construction activities,” Belingon stressed.
The BENECO official said most of the offices of the rural electric cooperative will be accommodated in the structure once completed but their collection centers in different parts of its franchise area in Baguio and Benguet will still remain.
However, Belingon cited the Alapang property, which now houses most of the management offices, will remain as a stockyard for its various units of equipment among others.
BENECO’s construction activities along South Drive were issued the appropriate fencing, excavation and building permits by the city government pursuant to existing laws, rules and regulations.
Attending the recent ground-breaking ceremonies for the put up of the structure included BENECO general manager Gerardo P. Verzosa, technical series department manager Engr. Melchor Licoben, finance services department manager Brenda Carling, institutional services department manager Delmar Cariño, members of the Board of Directors led by Board president Peter Bosaing, supervisors and officers of the BENECO Employees Labor Union (BELU).
Also gracing the occasion were councilors Leandro B. Yangot, Jr. and Joel Alangssab as well as friends of BENECO officials.
Belingon explained most of the services of the rural electric cooperative will be accommodated by the new structure once completed so as not to burden the consumers from transferring to the different locations of satellite offices of the cooperative.
BENECO is one of the top performing cooperatives in the country because of its consistent innovations in terms of delivering quality services to is rapidly growing number of consumers.
Currently, BENECO has around 130,000 residential and commercial power consumers distributed in Baguio City and Benguet province with around 85 percent distributed in the 128 barangays of the city.
Verzosa expressed his gratitude to the support shown by the BENECO officials and employees over the past several years in order to realize the implementation and the subsequent completion of the project that is part of the cooperative’s desire to improve the services that it is providing the consumers in the coming years.
By Dexter A. See
