NEA REVOKES RAFAEL BENECO APPOINTMENT

January 11, 2023 JUST IN

National Electrification Administration (NEA) Administrator, Antonio Almeda revoked the appointment of lawyer, Ana Maria Paz Rafael as Benguet Electric Cooperative General Manager. In a letter dated January 10, 2023, Almeda said “To foster industrial peace, and pursuant to NEA Board Resolution 2023-02, NEA hereby recalls and revokes your appointment as general manager of Beneco effective immediately.”

Rafael in a statement said “I am surprised, bothered and bewildered by the unexpected and sudden turn of events where the announced basis for the Revocation of my appointment appears to be contrived. Lest forgotten, NEA itself failed to act on its own Orders and Memoranda and to turn-over the premises of BENECO to me hence, the Performance Management Contract cannot be implemented properly and the Key Performance Standards met.”

Almeda explained that based on evaluation of the workplan and NEA’s overall performance assessment for the 4th quarter of 2021 and 3rd quarter of 2022 “You have evidently failed to meet the NEA Key Performance Standards, Beneco since your assumption has regressed to category B, coming from Triple “A” category in 2019, NEA’s EC Overall Performance Assessment.” The NEA Administrator continued “Under Item III, No. 7 of NEA Memorandum 2017-035, dated October 2017, no permanent appointment of a General Manager shall be made without NEA’s approval.

Further, the NEA shall conduct its evaluation of your performance bases on the work plan submitted. Rafael said “The regression of BENECO to Category B was prompted by the varied unliquidated funds and corruption issues besetting BENECO. These issues came about AFTER the assumption of the Officer in Charge of the position of General Manager without any appointment, as I have not been able to take full charge of BENECO facilities, equipment and funds. The allegations in the letter I received are skewed and whimsical.

These are totally baseless. In fact, there appears to be serious violations of NEA Rules in this nonchalant issuance since the NEA previously approved a Resolution Suspending the PMC.” NEA likewise removed all the BENECO’s Board of Directorsadn appointed Engineer Ramil Rifani as Acting General Manager. Rafael has vowed to explore legal remedies to address the latest NEA order tagging the decision as a failure to implement its own order of appointment creating confusion and disarray in the management of BENECO.

By Maria Elena Catajan