By Joel B. Belinan
The provinces of Benguet, Kalinga, and Ifugao avoided going back to the supposed Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) and instead remained under the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) as earlier announced and only Abra has been put under MECQ. That only means this pandemic remains the dominant news around, not only here but in the entire world with only a few exceptions like the conflict between the Israeli Defense Forces vs. the Palestinian militants.
While pandemic or Covid-19 issues dominate the news I would rather look at some of the non-pandemic ones in the Cordillera. And of course, the BENECO issue is up front. With the BENECO rank and file supported by the Baguio City Council, the Provincial Board of Benguet, and the partylist representing Electric Cooperatives in the country, becoming vocal against the National Electrification Administration’s (NEA’s) endorsing ASEC. Marie Rafael only to the BENECO-Board as the General Manager, removing Engr. Melchor Licoben from the list even if the two are both applicants to the position. Licoben is the current OIC GM of BENECO. I don’t personally know the two although I’ve met Engr. Licoben on some occasions such as during press conferences. On the other hand, even if ASSEC. Rafael was once a columnist for ZigZag Weekly, we haven’t had the opportunity to really know each other. Hence, I can consider myself to be free from any psychological burden on this issue.
The point of contention here is the action of the NEA excluding Licoben from their list which according to those backing Rafael is due to the fact that the BENECO Board has been, from the start, partial to the sitting OIC GM. Does that sound fair? In my simple understanding, it is not the fault of the sitting OIC GM that the BENECO Board members (although only majority, not all) showed that they are favoring him. He has the longest stints among the rank and file. This is a challenge for any outsider to hurdle. Legal personalities are quick to point out that the NEA actions are not in accordance with the rules they themselves promulgated. So we might be seeing court battles soon, if it has not already started with the filing of cases, as there is a surplus of lawyers around.
The possible scenario would be that the BENECO Board will reject the confirmation of Assec Rafael and thus the issue reverts back to the NEA. As of press time we received word they already did. So the NEA will either use the highhanded way they did in the Abra Electric Cooperative (ABRECO) by issuing an assumption order, even stating there the salary of their appointed GM. The ABRECO GM allegedly 74 years old, way above the 65 years old ceiling for an Electric Cooperative GM. Accordingly, he was a classmate of Pres. Duterte. NEA could also opt to make another endorsement by including the name of Engr. Licoben and hence he would really face Asec Rafael in a confirmation hearing to be conducted by the BENECO Board. Those batting for Rafael are, of course, hesitant with this scenario as Asec Rafael would be at a disadvantage considering the inclination of majority of the board members.
There have been side issues raised by some quarters like the longtime issues of BENECO’s extravagant expenditures especially on their fixed assets, about which this writer had been writing before. However, to me that is beside the issue and it could be pursued by anyone especially now that BENECO has been registered as a cooperative under the Cooperative Development Authority since last Year.
But these side issues can be used to undermine the process. The question is, will the powers-that-be in the national level dare to show their ugly face in Baguio City by bulldozing its way? Either way, it will not look good to both Licoben and Rafael who both expressed their good intentions for BENECO.
It should be noted that despite many criticisms on BENECO, it had been adjudged as the 5th best managed Electric cooperative in the country among the hundreds out there. For most people, whatever the outcome of this intramural, our concern is that it should result in better BENECO service and, if possible, lower billings in the future. For some observers, this would be the acid test on the effectiveness of government, at least, in the Baguio-Benguet area. **
