Tulfo grills NEA over BENECO leadership

Senator Idol Raffy Tulfo has berated the National Electrification Administration (NEA) for disregarding the right of Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) to self-governance by unilaterally replacing the general manager (GM) voted by its board of directors.

During the continuation of the organizational meeting of the Senate Committee on Energy on Wednesday, Aug. 31, Tulfo said he will look into NEA Memorandum No. 2017-035, which the said agency uses to justify its allegedly anomalous appointment of Maria Paz Rafael as BENECO's GM.

"As far as I'm concerned, walang problema ang BENECO - mababa ang kanilang singil, maganda ang performance at walang brownouts sa areas na sakop nila. Ngayon, bakit pinalitan ng NEA ang general manager elected by their board of directors? Yan ang tanong ng consumers ng BENECO. Ika nga sa kasabihan, if it ain't broke, don't fix it," he said.

"Yung memorandum order, I have to look into that, I will change that. It has to be changed," said Tulfo, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Energy, noting how the memorandum is adversely affecting cooperatives' right to elect its leader.

It may be recalled that BENECO's board of directors elected Melchor Licoben as GM after the April 2020 retirement of the late Gerardo P. Versoza. However, NEA, which supervises electric cooperatives, also appointed Ana Maria Paz Rafael as the cooperative's GM.

Answering Tulfo's query on the basis of the appointment of Rafael, NEA Deputy Administrator for Legal Services Atty. Rossan Rosero-Lee repeatedly invoked Memorandum No. 2017-035, which provides for the procedures on the selection of general managers for electric cooperatives

Tulfo said he is concerned with how easy it is for NEA to reject and replace a GM elected by the cooperatives' board of directors even if such cooperative is not ailing.

"Dito tayo nagkaka-problema dahil kahit pala nakapili na ang board of directors ng kanilang general manager, pwede pala itong randomly palitan ni NEA. In a way, tinatanggalan ng halaga ang selection process ng isang kooperatiba," he said.

Instead of interfering with cooperatives with good performance like BENECO, Tulfo said NEA can do better by helping ailing cooperatives.

Sen. Idol also pointed out that NEA should focus on investigating if electric cooperatives have enough technical and enough financial capacity to continue operations.

"Makialam po kayo kapag may problema o ailing ang isang kooperatiba and see how you can fix the problem, pero kung walang problema and the operation is good, huwag ninyong pakialaman," said he.

NEA, ginisa ni Sen. Raffy dahil sa isyu sa BENECO

Ginisa ni Senator Idol Raffy Tulfo ang mga opisyal ng National Electrification Administration (NEA) matapos nitong panghimasukan ang pamamahala sa Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO).

Sinabi ni Tulfo na rerebyuhin niya ang NEA Memorandum No. 2017-035, na ginagamit ng NEA para depensahan ang diumano'y maanomalyang pagtatalaga nito kay Maria Paz Rafael bilang General Manager (GM) ng BENECO.

"As far as I'm concerned, walang problema ang BENECO - mababa ang kanilang singil, maganda ang performance at walang brownouts sa areas na sakop nila. Ngayon, bakit pinalitan ng NEA ang general manager elected by their board of directors? Yan ang tanong ng consumers ng BENECO. Ika nga sa kasabihan, if it ain't broke, don't fix it," ani Tulfo.

"Yung memorandum order, I have to look into that, I will change that. It has to be changed," dagdag niya.

Matatandaang inihalal ng board of directors ng BENECO si Melchor Licoben bilang GM matapos na magretiro ang yumaong si Gerardo P. Versoza noong Abril 2020. Gayunpaman, itinalaga din ng NEA, na nangangasiwa sa mga electric cooperatives, si Rafael bilang GM ng kooperatiba.

Paulit-ulit na binanggit ni NEA Deputy Administrator for Legal Services Atty. Rossan Rosero-Lee ang Memorandum No. 2017-035 para depensahan ang pagtatalaga kay Rafael. Nakapaloob sa nasabing memorandum ang mga proseso sa pagpili ng GMs ng mga kooperatiba.

Sinabi ni Tulfo na nababahala siya dahil napakadali para sa NEA na tanggalin at palitan ang isang GM na inihalal na ng board of directors ng isang kooperatiba.

"Dito tayo nagkaka-problema dahil kahit pala nakapili na ang board of directors ng kanilang general manager, pwede pala itong randomly palitan ni NEA. In a way, tinatanggalan ng halaga ang selection process ng isang kooperatiba," ani Tulfo.

Sa halip na makialam sa mga kooperatiba na may magandang performance, tulad ng BENECO, sinabi ni Tulfo na dapat pagtuunan ng pansin ng NEA na tulungan ang mga kooperatibang may kinakaharap na mga problema.

"Makialam po kayo kapag may problema o ailing ang isang kooperatiba and see how you can fix the problem, pero kung walang problema and the operation is good, huwag ninyong pakialaman," ani Tulfo.