Published on Sunday, 28 April 2013 15:20 Written by Manly M. Ugalde / Correspondent
LEGAZPI CITY—Protesters against the privatization of the bankrupt Albay Electric Cooperative (Aleco) are suing the National Electrification Administration (NEA) and the interim board it created for pushing for the cooperative’s privatization.
Aleco provides the power needs of more than 200,000 consumers.
The complaint filed with the Regional Trial Court (RTC) here seeks the issuance of a temporary-restraining order, including a writ for prohibition against the eight-member from pushing the plan.
The Aleco interim board under NEA-designated project supervisor Veronica Briones had already called for a pre-bid conference with five giant firms attending and indicating interest to buy Aleco, including its close to P4-billion debts.
Among the four interested buyers are the Aboitiz Group which owns the Tiwi (Albay) geothermal power plant, the Lopez group which owns the Bacon-Manito geothermal power at the boundary of Albay and Sorsogon, and the San Miguel Corp., said Bishop Joel Baylon of the Diocese of Legazpi. Baylon is the chairman of the NEA-created Aleco interim board.
Lawyer Bartolome Rayco and one Darlan Barcelon, both acting as consumer-members, filed the petition before the RTC saying the interim board efforts to allow a private firm operate Aleco through its so-called Private Sector Participation (PSP) scheme is illegal, saying it did not have the consumers-members approval as a cooperative.
Rayco, lawyer of the Aleco Union Employees, said despite other available remedies to bail out Aleco, the interim board headed by Bishop Baylon allegedly allowed itself to be used by the NEA to push the privatization plan hatched several years ago.
Rayco said Aleco, touted as extremely graft-ridden and among the 10 worst cooperatives in the country, had been under NEA management most of the past 30 years alternating with the Aleco board whose members were elected by consumers.
“Now that Aleco is bankrupt, the NEA again took over its control in early 2011, and created its own interim board after forcibly removing the elected board of directors through mass resignation,” said Rayco.
Bishop Baylon said under the PSP scheme, Aleco would be under a concessionaire to include the buy-out of Aleco’s P4-billion debt, declare all employees resigned and those who would not be rehired would be sufficiently paid according to the law and the Aleco Collective-Bargaining Agreement whichever is more beneficial to terminated employees.
“It’s quite a drastic move but beneficial for Aleco and its consumers,” the bishop said. Aleco suffers from poor power service, a high-system loss of 24 percent, allegations of padded billing and discrimination against poor consumers who get disconnected for failing to pay bills on time while the big ones are spared.
Baylon said the efforts to bring the Aleco issue to court is a welcome move from the protesters but said it would only delay the much-awaited decision the interim board deemed proper and right.
Rayco said the NEA-PSP scheme would allow the concessionaire to control Aleco for at least 25 years, renewable for a maximum of 25 more years. He said if the bid for PSP pushes through, Albay consumers should expect a sudden soar of electric rate.
Rayco said the NEA is pressuring consumers to give up their resistance against privatization by resorting to frequent brownouts and threats of disconnections from power generators.
Albay Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda had earlier rebuked the government for threatening to cut Albay’s power supply because of Aleco’s huge debts, saying it is the government that is indebted to Albay with its geothermal power being enjoyed by other regions including Metro Manila. source
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