August 12, 2019 | 10:11 pm
ELECTRIC
cooperatives are pushing for greater autonomy for the industry by supporting a
move to give the National Electrification Administration (NEA) greater
budgetary leeway through a proposed law that is backed by some members of the
House of Representatives.
Presley C. De Jesus,
president of the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc.
(Philreca), said one of the group’s priorities is the conversion of NEA into
the National Electrification Authority.
Through Philreca, which
won a seat at the House of Representatives in the last election as a
party-list, he said he would push for the passage of House Bill 468 to
streamline the budget process for a reconfigured NEA, among others.
The proposed measure,
aside from renaming the agency, seeks to define and enhance the powers of NEA,
including its functions and operations to achieve the government’s policy for
total rural electrification.
Mr. De Jesus, who is
Philreca’s nominee in Congress, said the bill is his top priority as a
Representative.
Asked to comment,
Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi said the electric cooperatives are free to do
as they please, even with their plan to convert NEA into an “Authority.”
“Wala ri’ng problema
sa akin ‘yun,”(it’s not a problem) he said. “Whether you are authority, you
are administration… or whatever, gawin lang natin ang trabaho, wala tayong
problema.” (Let’s just do our jobs, and there will be no problems).
In the meantime, he
said while electric cooperatives remain under his supervision, the Department
of Energy (DoE) will continue monitoring their performance and will cancel franchises
for non-performing cooperatives if necessary.
“It’s not a threat, but
it’s a job that we have to do,” he said.
“Cooperatives have done
their job,” Mr. Cusi said. “The only thing is that now, the game requires a
higher level of performance so we have to elevate.”
However, Senator
Sherwin T. Gatchalian questioned the proposal, saying the DoE and NEA, in their
current form, need to coordinate their actions especially on rural
electrification.
“Personally, off-top,
the mandate of NEA is to supervise all electric cooperatives in the country as
well as to make sure that the missionary responsibilities of the electric
co-ops are being met, meaning they are given a franchise to operate and to
serve all the unserved areas,” he said.
Mr. Gatchalian said the
cooperatives’ mandate requires “social responsibility.”
“DoE, being the lead
agency when it comes to energy and power, has that responsibility also,” he
said.
He said the two
agencies “should be in line when it comes to electrification policies.” He
added that the two cannot be separated, since DoE as the lead agency crafts the
policies that NEA implements.
“NEA needs to work with
DoE, and DoE needs to have control the agency because it is mandated to roll
out electrification,” he added. — Victor V. Saulon
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