BAGUIO CITY – The Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) is now working out its proposed registration with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) as a full-pledged cooperative pursuant to the decision of the member-consumers during its annual general membership assembly last June. BENECO general manager Gerardo P. Verzosa said the management and the Board of Directors are currently ironing out the differences in the text of the proposed constitution and by-laws of the cooperative which will be used in the conduct of information and education campaign to the consumers on the said proposed conversion.
He admitted that based on the draft by-laws of the cooperative prepared by the Board of Directors, it strictly followed the template of the CDA while on the part of the management, the draft by laws considered the existing operations and the regulatory powers of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) over the CDA-registered electric cooperatives and rate-making processes.
“If we will not be able to arrive at a consensus with the members of the Board, then our remaining option is to present both proposed constitution and by-laws for the member-consumers to select what provisions of the by-laws will be applicable to BENECO’s situation,” Verzosa stressed.
Previously, BENECO member-consumers overwhelmingly rejected two attempts of the rural electric cooperative to register with the CDA because of the absence of safety nets in the CDA law that will protect the interest of the member-consumers, electric cooperatives being peculiar from regular cooperatives because its services are endowed with public interest.
He explained that when an electric cooperative becomes an ailing one, all the member-consumers will surely be affected with its poor services while if a savings cooperative will be bankrupt, it will only be the members who will be affected, thus, electric cooperatives should be treated differently when registering with the CDA because it will be the public that will be affected once there will be lapses in management and operational decision-making.
According to him, whatever will be the agreed contents of the constitution and by-laws, the same will be presented to the electric cooperative’s general assembly in June for approval prior to the conduct of a massive information education campaign for member-consumers to understand the issue and for them to know whether or not they will favour the proposed registration of BENECO with the CDA.
The BENECO official asserted the Board of Directors and management were convinced to register with the CDA following the enactment of Republic Act (RA) 10531 or the amended NEA law which provided the guarantee that even if the electric cooperative will register with CDA, NEA and ERC will still have the regulatory control over its management and operation, especially on sensitive technical matters and rate making processes.
He pointed out that there are numerous technical issues that are involved in the operation of electric cooperatives that must be taken into consideration by the stakeholders so it important that the regulatory functions of the NEA and the ERC over electric cooperatives will remain without undue intervention.
By HENT