Amlig Kuryente to CENECO: Conduct massive campaign on coop conversion

Amlig Kuryente Convenor Wilson Gamboa, Jr. urged Central Negros Electric Cooperative, Inc. (CENECO) acting General Manager Atty. Arnel Lapore to conduct a massive information, education and communication campaign on “CENECO’s conversion” based on a Memorandum issued by the National Electrification Administration (NEA) dated December 5, 2014 – rather than passionately espousing on the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) as the solution to a “bleeding CENECO”.

According to Gamboa, this was the subject of a letter to Lapore dated March 27, 2023 and the meeting on the same date where he committed to implement the NEA memorandum enjoining all non-stock cooperatives, like CENECO, to conduct referendum “whether it should remain as non-stock, nonprofit cooperative under NEA, convert into stock cooperative under the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) or convert into stock corporation under the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).”

He said that Lapore appears to be preoccupied with the impending but “likely done deal” JVA between CENECO and More Electric and Power Corp. (More Power), rather than implementing what he committed to Amlig Kuryente, displaying said JVA as the only solution to “the lack of capitalization, mismanagement, inefficiency, corruption, mishandling of funds, among others,” without presenting plans and roadmaps to stop the “bleeding” and release CENECO from the “ICU”.

Gamboa stressed, “If CENECO is indeed bleeding and admitted in ICU, the solution is not JVA but rather to change the leadership from the current Board of Directors down to the general manager and render them answerable and accountable for the hemorrhage.”

He added that this CENECO JVA with More Power is no different from the BACIWA JVA with PrimeWater and that now it can be said that the evident lack or absence of plans coming from the CENECO BOD and Lapore reveals the reason why the latter was appointed general manager.

Gamboa explained that the appointment of Lapore and the continued silence of the CENECO BOD only reveals that they are facilitating the takeover of More Power instead of focusing their efforts in resolving the issues afflicting CENECO – lack of capital, systems loss and democratizing CENECO through information, education and communication campaigns by organizing consultations and meetings with MCOs thus transforming it into a genuine and true consumers’ cooperative.

As to the question of how to stop this grossly disadvantageous and onerous JVA on the part of CENECO Members, Consumers, Owners (MCOs), Gamboa and Amlig Kuryente are consistently pushing for the immediate registration of CENECO to the CDA thus appropriate and ensure controlling power to the MCOs rather than yielding this to a private “corporate raider” who would take over CENECO for profit.* (PR)