Pelco 2 directors 'overstaying': group
By Ian Ocampo Flora
GUAGUA -- The cooperative here may be facing the same fate as that of the Pampanga Electric Cooperative (Pelco) 3.
Consumers Alliance Pelco 2 (CAP-2) chairperson Catalina Saplala said the present board of directors is "overstaying" and even dumped accusations of "irregularity" in the various affairs of the cooperative.
"There is a lot of proof that the present board has failed to follow certain provisions in the Pelco 2 bylaws and the present general manager's claim that 'there are no owners only, member consumers' is a misreading of the provisions," Saplala said.
Saplala's group, CAP2, established in 1985 and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, had been throwing complaints to the National Electrification Administration (NEA) ranging from non-institution of the vacant director positions in the towns of Sta. Rita, Sasmuan and Porac, failure to organize the election for the board of directors last August, failure to convene the Annual General Membership Assembly (AGMA) and over staffing.
The group asked the NEA to intervene but no action has been taken yet.
"They are saying that we do not represent the general sentiment of member consumers but they should recognize that our complaints are based from existing provisions," Saplala said.
At present, the director positions in Porac, Guagua, Sasmuan and Sta. Rita have ended their mandates in August of this year. However, the present board has not yet shown any intention in filling up the vacant seats and has drafted a move to "extend" their term, according to Saplala.
"They are asking the NEA to extend their term. This is going beyond what is prescribed in the bylaws of the cooperative and for such request to be affirmed it must follow consultations among the cooperative's consumers but still it will not pass since it is contrary with the rules," she said.
She also cited the obvious "communication gap" between consumers and the cooperative as the latter has failed to convene the annual Agma, the highest governing body of the cooperative to discuss problems and air the concerns of consumers. She also admitted not paying her bills because the coop had failed to give her the computation of unbundled rates that the coop failed to refund to consumers.
"Lagarde is not a general manager, but a 'genius manager' since he has managed to amend the bylaws to fit through their designs," Saplala said.
The coop's side Pelco 2 general manager Sulpicio Lagarde branded Saplala's group as a "nuisance". On the other hand, Pelco 2 board president Gilbert Reyes explained that the present board failed to call for the election of board directors because of the upcoming barangay elections.
"We were elected August 2004 so our term was supposed to end this year, but this was deferred for next year. I don't believe that is overstaying," Reyes said.
Lagarde also berated Saplala on non-payment of her bills, saying Saplala complaint was baseless and that the coop will soon serve her a disconnection notice.
There were also rumors circulating within the coops employees regarding the board president's "alleged pilferage" and non-payment of bills.
When asked if the coop will be doing actions to come into terms with CAP2, Reyes said the coop would not even bother to dialogue with them.
"It is a free country and anyone can say what he wants but if they think we are doing something wrong they can sue us in court," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment