The leadership crisis in the Benguet Electric Cooperative and the consequent freezing of accounts in six depository banks has resulted in the utility’s failure to pay obligations to its power supply provider, Team Energy, since April.
Board of directors appointed General Manager Melchor Licoben said if these banks continue to prevent him and BOD Chair Esteban Somngi from accessing the accounts, it is likely that power supply will be cut off in Baguio and Benguet. This will also imperil Beneco’s negotiation with power supplier Team Energy on its generation rates.
As of June, payables to Team Energy has reached P342 million. The company bills Beneco an average of P240M monthly.
Since Beneco cannot access its accounts, Licoben said the temporary remedy they are employing is to pay Team Energy directly but only partially.
For April, Beneco has a balance of P30M, P67M in May, and P245M in June.
Team Energy has not assessed Beneco of penalties knowing the situation the utility is in at present, but Licoben said the company informed them that incoming billing statements will include penalties, which, if it continues to balloon, will have to be shouldered by member-consumers.
To prevent this from happening, he and Somngi recently wrote the city council and asked the body to intervene so they can convince the banks to allow access to their accounts.
A total of P441M deposited at the Landbank of the Philippines, Philippine National Bank, and Bank of the Philippine Islands cannot be accessed by the Licoben-led Beneco management after these banks decided to freeze the accounts due to the leadership dispute between Licoben and Ana Maria Paz Rafael.
Rafael has also been asserting she is the general manager on the basis of her appointment by the National Electrification Administration Board of Administrators. NEA is a government body that oversees the operation of power utilities in the country.
The Licoben-led Beneco management alleged that freezing of the accounts were due to harassment and intimidation done by the Rafael camp. It said it is not allowed to withdraw from these banks yet, but the Rafael camp was permitted to withdraw P58M from the Landbank, P26M from the PNB, and P8.5M from BPI.
The Rafael camp, through spokesperson Maita Cascolan-Andres, said the banks, which also include Rang-ay Bank, Metrobank, and Summit Bank, decided to freeze the accounts based on their internal policies and circulars of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, not due to intimidation as alleged.
Other banks, on the other hand, filed for declaratory relief or seeking the courts declaration who between the two parties should be recognized as officials of the utility company.
Licoben said Beneco’s collections averaging P350M to P400M would have been enough to pay Team Energy but restricted access to their own accounts has affected timeliness of payment. On top of payments to Team Energy, Beneco also has obligations to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
The freezing of accounts also resulted in the withholding of benefits of retired employees, suspension of corporate social responsibility projects such as death, medical, and educational aid, and has also delayed payment of suppliers for materials used by Beneco in its day to day operation such as poles and cables.
As response to Licoben and Somngi’s request, the city council committee on public utilities, transportation, and traffic legislation will mediate on the issue.
Committee chair Benny Bomogao said the mediation will focus on the access to funds for the payment of contractual obligations and will not dwell on who between Licoben or Rafael is the legit general manager.
The council said both camps need to come to an agreement to spare member-consumers, banks, employees, and Beneco itself of the consequences of the cases both parties filed against one another.
Somngi, in behalf of the Licoben camp, and Rocky Balisong, lead counsel of the Rafael camp, have agreed to undergo mediation proceedings.
The mediation team has 30 days from Aug. 7, to formulate the terms of negotiation and facilitate the mediation. Both parties have also been ordered to submit financial statements every quarter and to ref-rain from attacking one another on social media so as not to imperil the mediation proceedings. – Rimaliza A. Opña
