5 MIN READ

By SHERWIN DE VERA
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — The “armed” and “militarist” takeover of the Benguet Electric Cooperative (Beneco) main office at dawn on October 18 received condemnation from member-consumers, the church, vegetable farmers and traders, business community, local officials, and cause-oriented groups in Baguio and Benguet.

National Electrification Administration (NEA)-appointed Beneco Project Supervisor Atty. Omar Mayo and General Manager Ana Maria Rafael, accompanied by dozens of Police Regional Office Cordillera personnel in full battle gear, barged into the Beneco headquarters at around 3:00 AM of October 18 to establish their authority.

According to Mayo, NEA deputized the police to implement a suspension order against seven Beneco board of directors, and the board appointed general manager Engr. Melchor Licoben. The suspended directors include Jeffred Acop, Mike Maspil, Peter Busaing, Jonathan Obar, Josephin Tuling, Robert Valentin, and Somngi. The said directors stood by Licoben’s appointment and rejected NEA’s designation of Rafael as general manager.

He presented NEA Board of Administrators’ Referendum No. 9, ordering the police to enforce the suspension order to justify their action.

The combat-like operation to take control of the civilian electric utility facility caused alarm and frightened employees. Those inside, when the police entered the building, left in the morning while the other workers opted not to report and joined the sit-down protest.

Employees on duty caught the armed takeover of the building on their mobile phones and posted it on the employees’ union page. The footage alarmed the Baguio-Benguet community and stirred member-consumers to rush to the area for an impromptu protest against the forcible takeover of NEA and Rafael.

Disappointed church

Baguio Diocese Bishop Victor Bendico denounced NEA’s action and appealed for sobriety in resolving the Beneco issue.

“Along with others, we also denounce the “forceful takeover of the offices” of BENECO. I expect respect, and civility, and refined manners in addressing concerns that beset us,” Bendico stated.

As a “concerned citizen and resident of Baguio,” the bishop expressed alarm and disappointment over the Beneco debacle.

He said the incident caused “anxiety, disappointment and indignation” among the people, especially member-consumers.

Bendico pointed out that the takeover disrupted power restoration and other activities and undertakings that entailed the use of electricity. He underscored that it happened when the country was battling a pandemic and days after typhoon Maring ravaged Baguio and Benguet.

“I urge everyone to pray for a peaceful, sound, and truthful resolution of whatever is the issue in the BENECO,” the Bishop said.

The Diocese of Baguio, with the League of Associations at the La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Areas Inc., held a prayer vigil at the La Trinidad Trading Post at around 6:30 PM on October 19. Eleven groups representing vegetable traders, farmers, truckers, and disposers comprised the league.

They joined the call for the immediate and peaceful resolution of the Beneco leadership row. The participants also expressed support to the employees and the suspended Beneco officials.

Armed, militarist takeover

Some sectors in the Baguio-Benguet community called the takeover of the electric utility headquarters “armed” and “militarist.”

One of Baguio’s oldest coffee stores, Garcia’s Premium Coffee, condemned the incident, calling it “illegal and militarist.” The shop also expressed solidarity with Beneco and support to the Beneco board-appointed general manager, Engr. Melchor Licoben.

Meanwhile, Baguio multisectoral group Tongtongan ti Umili (TTU) called the October 18 action of Rafael’s camp an “armed takeover.”

“This NEA-instigated, Malacañang-backed, and PROCOR-NBI-protected break in comes at a time when BENECO’s workers and employees are spread all over Benguet striving to restore power in remote places, and responding to the disaster left by STS Maring,” the group said.

TTU said NEA and Rafael’s “tyrannical exercise of power” obviously received blessings from the Duterte administration.

“We have seen attempts like this done by forces of the Duterte regime, who resorted to force and power when they can’t get what they want,” the statement said.

Beneco officials said that around 50 police officers entered their headquarters “like they were conducting commando operations” without a court order. They also reported that the police, who were carrying rifles when they stormed the office, also took the recorder of the CCTV system and damaged a glass door.

“As far as we are concerned, what the police did was illegal and we are looking into possible legal actions against the police and NEA,” Licoben added.

The NEA order that deputized the PNP also ordered police personnel “to employ all necessary steps” to prevent the suspended Beneco officials from exercising authority.

No need for a takeover

Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong and Philippine Rural Electric Cooperative Association (Philreca) asserted that there was no need for NEA to take control of Beneco.

“It is unfortunate that Beneco is being dragged into a leadership crisis by some quarters at the time when it was able to reach the highest pedestal of the country’s power industry,” he said in a statement.

The mayor added that Beneco is the benchmark of the performance of electric cooperatives in the country, raising the standard in electric cooperatives’ operations “through transparent and accountable leadership.”

“And its general manager Engr. Melchor Licoben has proven his competence and efficiency. He also has had no integrity issue whatsoever. So I reiterate: Why fix something that is not broken?” he said.

Philreca said that NEA has no power to take over the management of Beneco unless they can prove that it is an ailing cooperative.

“Despite the result of the investigation of the Committee on Energy as adapted by the entire Members of the House of Representatives, despite the resistance of the stakeholders from local government units in Baguio City and Benguet and the member-consumer-owners themselves, and despite the opposition of its own Legal Department, the Board of Administrators of NEA headed by Juaneza still tried to impose to BENECO its endorsement of Rafael as General Manager who has been found unqualified for the position in the first place,” the group said.

PNP under fire

TTU also condemned PROCOR for allowing the use of police officers in a hostile takeover of a public utility.

“This is but another proof that they are no longer reflections of their credo ‘to serve and protect,’ especially when they act as private armies of the corrupt and power-hungry,” the group stated.

Philreca also lambasted the PNP “for allowing the agency to be used in an illegal act and protecting only the one-sided interest” of Rafael’s camp. The electric coop alliance accused the police of “blindly following the orders from its chain of command instead of protecting the interest of the member-consumer-owners and maintaining neutrality.”

“At this point, the police (have) no personality in what is happening in BENECO, a private company. They do not have any authority to be in the premises. If any, they are supposed to be there only to maintain neutrality and ensure peace and order,” the group said.

“NEA may have the power to deputize law enforcement to enforce a decision in the exercise of its adjudicating powers, but this is not a case of adjudication,” Philreca added.

Philreca called on PNP Chief Guillermo Eleazar and the entire police leadership to refrain from taking sides on this issue.

Disrupted operations

The Beneco headquarters was empty throughout Monday except for Rafael, Mayo, and the police. The employees no longer reported for work and staged a sit-down protest after the “armed takeover.

However, Licoben assured the consumers that they would continue repairing power lines in Benguet destroyed by Typhoon Maring. He also directed bill payments to alternative collection agencies like banks and stores.

Beneco Employees Labor Union (BELU) Vice President Mark Anthony Amisola said the police barred some employees from entering the South Drive headquarters. Others were afraid to report for work after watching the video footage of how police forced their way into the office.

“Who would feel at ease to work in such an environment where there are armed policemen, why are they armed? It’s like they are going to war?” he stressed.

Amisola said they were waiting for further instruction. He reiterated that they would only take orders from Licoben. # nordis.net