TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The special investigation committee of the provincial government formed to probe complaints against the Kalinga-Apayao Electric Cooperative (KAELCO) over its attempt to collect alleged accumulated arrears has requested the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to order the utility to immediately stop collecting the alleged unpaid bills.
Calling the claims of KAELCO for arrears “unfounded,” the body which is chaired by Vice Governor James Edduba asked that the NEA through Resolution No. 3, series of 2017, to only allow the power cooperative to start collecting the arrears after “it has exerted diligent effort in putting in order its records relative to the collection and posting of payments.”
The committee said that being remiss in the “proper and timely posting of its payment collections,” it is but proper for the power utility to fix its records before it runs after the alleged arrears.
Acting General Manager Edgar Tipon who was assigned by the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to manage the utility while General Manager Corazon Tomas serves a one month suspension which effected on March 15 admitted as much saying the chaotic billing and collecting records of the utility is one possible cause for the incidence of the alleged arrears.
He theorized that the more or less P60M discrepancy may have occurred when adjustments on shortages of collectors were made in the books but these were no longer entered into the subsidiary ledgers of the concerned consumers.
Tipon informed the Zigzag Weekly that the Management had decided last week to only collect the 120 days below past due accounts and go after the remainder after these have been collected.
He said that after the collection of the 120 days and below arrears, they will address the problem of the 121 days up by requiring affected consumers to bring their receipts for paid bills to the utility‘s office.
Tipon said that it is only the consumers who are certain they have paid their bills regularly who should prove they have no arrears because, according to him, there are also instances when the utility’s computerized arrears records are correct.
Tipon was referring to the many instances where consumers have proven the arrears appearing in their bills to be non-existent through the presentation of the corresponding receipts.
KAELCO sparked widespread complaints when it reflected lumped alleged arrears in the February 2017 bills of thousands of consumers in Tabuk City including some departments of the Kalinga LGU to bring their proofs of payment to the office of the public utility located in the outskirts of the city.
Under Resolution No. 2 of the committee which asks the NEA to extend the services of Tipon “until the complaints leveled against the Management are resolved,” the committee also laid some of the fault for the mess on the lax implementation of the guidelines on the procedures for the operation of a Bayad Center bill collecting agent contracted by the utility.
The committee said that the collecting service failed because of problems in the collection and timely posting of payments.
Tipon informed that the cooperative had stopped the operation of the Bayad Center effective March 29 after confirming that the service contract was not authorized by the KAELCO Board.
Tipon noted that the deal with the KAELCO Bayad Center was unique because it provided that consumers pay P20.00 fee per bill paid when the services of Bayad Centers are paid by the cooperatives themselves. **By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
