BAGUIO CITY – City officials requested the members of the National Electrification Administration – Board of Administrators (NEA-BOA) to adhere to its recruitment rules and regulations enshrined under NEA Memorandum No. 2017-035, Memorandum No. 2018-004, Republic Act (RA) No. 10531, Presidential Decree (PD) No. 269 as amended and by-laws of the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) in the appointment of a general manager of an electric cooperative.
Under Resolution No. 263, series of 2021 signed by Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong, local legislators stated that the NEA-BOA in its Resolution RB No. 2021-47 that approved the endorsement the candidate with the highest score in the final interview for the position of BENECO general manager only endorsed the candidate with the highest score for the said post despite both candidates garnering a passing score of above 80 percent which evidently contravenes NEA Memorandum 2018-004
Earlier, the council summoned NEA and BENECO representatives to shed light on the controversy created by the issuance of NEA-BOA Resolution RB No. 2021-47 that endorsed only once applicant, the one that garnered the highest score in the final interview, to the BENECO Board of Directors for appointment to the position of general manager despite the existence of BENHECO Board Resolution No. 2020-90 that appointed Engr. Melchor S. Licoben as general manager of the electric cooperative that was passed way back on April 21, 2020 pursuant to the second option in the selection of the general manager of an electric cooperative explicitly provided under NEA Memorandum No. 2017-035.
Under NEA Memorandum 2017-035, it provided that the list of applicants who passed the NEA board final interview with necessary information and results of the background investigation shall then be transmitted to the electric cooperative for perusal and selection.
Based on the NEA-BOA records, the council noted that the candidates for BENECO general manager, Engr. Melchor S. Licoben and Atty. Ana Marie Paz Rafael, after the final interview have an average score of 82.75 percent and 94 percent, respectively, where both are qualified for endorsement by the NEA to the BENECO board for selection.
Under Resolution No. 262 also signed by Mayor Magalong, the council also requested the NEA-BOA to provide the body and BENECO the results of the screening and the minutes of the initial and final interview of applicants to the position of general manager conducted by the members of the BOA, including the certification of 5-year experience of the applicants for necessary information and appropriate action.
During the council inquiry, no less than NEA Institutional Development Department manager Nolie Alamillo admitted that one of the applicants did not submit the requirements that will support the compliance to the 5-year experience in the supervision and management of a performing electric cooperative but the 9-man screening committee still endorsed the same to the BOA for appreciation.
The two approved resolutions were immediately transmitted by the city council to the NEA-BOA for information, guidance and appropriate action and to shed light on the matter that is now causing confusion among BENECO’s member-consumer-owners.
By Dexter A. See