The National Electrification Administration (NEA) said the change in rules in the hiring of general managers (GMs) for electric cooperatives had been targeted to “equip the EC managers to handle rising challenges” especially in the rural electrification program of the government.
In defending its decision, the agency similarly indicated that the modified criteria in the hiring of EC managers could also pave the way for power utilities to meet the demands of the member-consumer-owners (MCOs) in these power utilities.
“The policy guidelines encapsulate clear and uniform set of standards on the selection, hiring and termination of service/suspension of an EC general manager,” NEA said in its statement to the media.
Last week, the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association Inc. (PHILRECA) decried the issuance by NEA of the two memoranda altering the criteria and terms for the designation of general managers for ECs -- with the group pointing out that the newly laid down policy violates provisions of Republic Act 10531 or the National Electrification Administration Reform Act of 2013 – primarily the provision scrapping the rights of the ECs to recommend their own GM; and transferring that authority into the hands of the NEA Board of Administrators.
NEA, nevertheless, argued that “through these amendments, the ECs will be able to pursue sustainable rural development and remains agile to manage the complex requirements of power industry and to meet the evolving needs and expectations of the MCOs for equitable opportunities in life.”
The agency primarily cited that under Section 4-A of the NEA Charter, it was prescribed that “in the exercise of its power of supervision over electric cooperatives, the NEA shall have the following powers: issue orders, rules and regulations, motu proprio or upon petition of third parties, to conduct investigations, referenda and other similar actions on all matters affecting the electric cooperatives.”
It thus noted that such provision in Republic Act 10531 served as NEA’s basis in issuing the memoranda and enforcing a revised policy on the terms relating to the hiring or designation of EC general managers.
Amid the intensifying scuffle, PHILRECA President and Party-List Representative Presley C. De Jesus called on the resignation of sitting NEA Administrator Emmanuel Juaneza, as he noted that the latter “does not have what it takes to be an Administrator of an institution which used to be a partner of the electric cooperatives.”
In reference to the recent policy issuances of the government-run electrification agency, PHILRECA further criticized NEA as “anti-cooperative and anti-people for issuing memoranda that do not uphold the interests and welfare of the coops and its members”
For her part, Atty. Gloria Corrales, president of the Philippine Association of Board of Directors of Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc. (PHABDREC), stated that “as the direct representatives of MCOs, the power to hire, select, and appoint a general manager has always been and should always be with the people who own the electric cooperatives, the member-consumer-owners.”
She qualified that the general managers of ECs “are appointed by the Board of Directors of the ECs that they manage because the GM should be accountable to the owners and consumers of the cooperative.”