/PNA
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — The National Electrification Administration (NEA) has taken over the management and operational control of the beleaguered Palawan Electric Cooperative (PALECO) and has brought in a new general manager to lead in fixing its woes.
The NEA, which described the take over as intervening in the power co-op’s responsibilities to help resolve Palawan’s power supply problems, ordered engineer, Nelson Lalas, last December 10 to be PALECO’s project supervisor or acting general manager “effective immediately.”
In a news bulletin posted Friday, NEA administrator Edgardo Masongsong said the move is pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 269 as amended by Section 5 of Republic Act No. 10531 or the National Electrification Administration Reform Act of 2013.
“In the exigency of the service and pursuant to Sections 4 (e) and (j) of Presidential Decree No. 269 as amended by Section 5 of RA 10531, Engineer Lalas is hereby designated as Project Supervisor/Acting General Manager of Palawan Electric Cooperative effective immediately,” Masongsong’s office order stated.
Lalas’ designation will only end if a new general manager has already been confirmed by the NEA.
Among Lalas’ tasks is “to manage the day-to-day operations of PALECO to ensure the efficient delivery of electric service to the member-consumer-owners.”
He also has the “mandate” to approve or disapprove Board resolutions in consultation with concerned departments in the NEA.
Lalas is also “authorized to sign and countersign checks, withdrawal slips, and other banking transactions, as well as to perform other tasks that may be assigned to him for operational efficiency.”
PALECO currently has three applicants vying to fill up the position of general manager — Cesar Joseph R. Baloloy, Alladin P. Cruz, and Gonzalo G. Ong Jr., who are now undergoing the selection process set forth by PALECO and the NEA.
Based on available information online, from a news article posted by Bombo Radyo Philippines, Lalas figured in August 2018 in a controversy as general manager of the Camarines Sur Electric Cooperative (CASURECO) 2 in Naga City.
The news cited the call for him to be kicked out as general manager of CASURECO-2 for failure to implement several power projects on time.
Jeffrey Tan-Endriga, chairman of the board of directors of PALECO, said Saturday that they will contest NEA’s move for takeover through a position paper.
“We will send a position paper regarding this, particularly on the responsibilities that Lalas was given. What is the basis for giving him the power to approve or disapprove Board resolutions? The general manager, under our setup, sits in the body but he doesn’t have any voting power, he only has speaking rights,” Endriga said.
He said the power co-op’s BOD has the legal position to refuse the takeover because it is not “ailing.”
What it has is a “technical problem” that could have been resolved had their capital expenditures (CAPEX) been approved early by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
Endrigo added they will pass a resolution that will only allow Lalas to sign checks for salaries of employees, but not PALECO’s obligations to its suppliers.
“We have the legal position to do this. He can sign under three million or five million to pay for the salaries of the personnel of PALECO, but he cannot sign checks to pay suppliers. Over that, the chairman can have the function based on the Republic Act 9184 or the Procurement Reform Act,” he said.
Endriga also said that power interruptions have lessened since they have already been allowed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to remove any vegetation that disturbs the distribution lines.
In October, President Rodrigo Duterte, in a visit to Puerto Princesa City, gave Palawan and PALECO officials the ultimatum to shape up and stabilize power supply or ship out.
He said the national government will not hesitate to takeover PALECO if the power problems are not fixed by the end of 2018.
PALECO is the lone power distributor in Puerto Princesa City and 18 municipalities, serving 137,277 consumers or 57 percent of the 240,700 potential connections as of June 2018.
