Group should respect endorsement of new BENECO chief: Palace

May 16, 2021 Metro BLISTT

Baguio City – Malacañang on Monday appealed to a party-list group to respect the decision of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) board of administrators (BOA) to recommend a Palace official as a candidate for general manager of the Benguet Electric Cooperative (Beneco).
This, after the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association Inc. (Philreca) questioned the NEA board decision to endorse Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary and lawyer Anna Marie B. Rafael instead of Melchor Licoben, the cooperative’s acting manager.
“Ang aking panawagan po sa mga electric cooperatives, mayroon pong proseso na sinusunod at doon sa proseso po mayroong isang mas malaking body na nagnonominate po kung sino ang maa-appoint na mga members ng Board of Directors at nakaupo naman po diyan ang representante ng ating Pangulo na Secretary of energy, si Secretary [Alfonso] Cusi (My call to the electric cooperatives is there is a process that is followed and in the process is that there is a larger body that nominates who will be appointed as members of the Board of Directors and the representative of our President is sitting there, Energy Secretary Cusi),” he said in a Palace press briefing.
Roque said he did not see why Rafael could not be endorsed if the endorsement went through the proper process.
“Eh lahat naman po ng mga korporasyon na may kinalaman ang gobyerno, lalung-lalo na iyong under regulation ng gobyerno, eh dapat naman po sinusunod ang proseso kasi importante po iyong pananagutan. At kung dumaan naman po sa proseso, walang kahit sino na dapat maging hadlang para mapatupad ang tamang proseso (All the corporations that are involved with the government, especially those under government regulation, eh, follow process because it involves so much responsibility. And if it went through process, no one should prevent the right process from being implemented),” he added.
Citing newspaper reports, Roque said the NEA board decided to select Rafael as she was the candidate with the higher score during the final interview. Licoben scored 82.75 percent while Rafael drew a 94-percent mark, according to NEA Board Resolution No. 2021-47.
“Mayroong isa na talagang napakataas ng score na nakuha – 90 plus ‘no. Opo, kilala ko po siya, kasama po natin siya sa government communications, si Asec. Rafael. Pero since ganiyan naman po ang naging resulta ng proseso, dapat naman po igalang (There really is one who got a high score—90 plus. Yes, I know her, she works with us in government communications, Asec. Rafael.
But since that is the result of the process, it should be respected),” he added. Roque backed suggestions for NEA to conduct a special audit on Beneco to find out if there are anomalies they are trying to conceal.
Since Rafael is also a lawyer and former special investigator of the Ombudsman, he expressed confidence that she would be able to confirm whether there really are supposed irregularities within Beneco.
“Kung mayroon pong kababalaghan diyan sa Beneco eh siguradong lalabas po iyan, at sana hindi naman ito ang dahilan kung bakit mayroong mga humaharang sa kaniya (If there are anomalies there in Beneco, it will definitely come out, and I hope this is not the reason why there are people blocking her endorsement),” he said.
In a statement, Rafael appealed to some Directors and Officers of Beneco to stop sowing intrigue and instead focus on getting the job done.
“Let’s stop the intrigues and the bickering and get back to work because we owe it to the Member Consumers and Paying Consumers of Beneco,” she said. Rafael said she will respect whatever decision made by NEA.
“For now, since the BOA Resolution 2021-047 has been released, I will respect the authority of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) and subject myself to the wisdom of the Board of Directors of Beneco, that is, to confirm or reject the BOA Resolution,” she added.
Despite not being an engineer, Rafael said she only had “good intentions” to work for Beneco. “I have good intentions to work for Beneco and I do not have any business interests that are in conflict with the business transactions of Beneco,” she said. She also said years of supervisory experience in the government service and a Master’s degree also make her qualified for the position.
(PNA)