• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Diocese of San Carlos in Negros Occidental issued a pastoral letter calling for the careful study and discernment on what it reported are ongoing discussions and proposals regarding a proposed Joint Venture Agreement between the Negros Electric and Power Corporation (NEPC) and the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (NONECO).
In a pastoral letter he issued, Bishop Gerardo Alminaza said he considers it as a pastoral duty to help guide the faithful and the broader public in approaching the issue, not with haste or emotion, but with prudence, wisdom, and a sincere concern for the common good.
“Decisions that determine its ownership, management and accessibility must never be made hastily, nor be driven solely by business, or political interests”, Alminaza said.
Engr. Wilbe Bilbao, acting NONECO general manager, yesterday confirmed that they received a “letter of intent” from NEPC, also known as Negros Power, last month. While he did not elaborate further, Bilbao said it was not yet discussed or deliberated by the board of directors of the electric cooperative, nor communicated with the National Electrification Administration.
As to reports that there was a clamor from Northern Negros solons, Bilbao said he has no idea, stressing also that they presently focusing on how to improve services to its consumer-members in northern Negros.
NONECO operates from E.B. Magalona to San Carlos City, while the area of jurisdiction of Diocese of San Carlos includes the municipalities of Manapla, Toboso, Calatrava, Don Salvador Benedicto, and the cities of San Carlos, Escalante, Cadiz, and Sagay in Negros Occidental, as well as towns of Vallehermoso, La Libertad, cities of Guihulngan and Canlaon in Negros Oriental.
Alminaza said he and the people asked if privatization is truly the only best solution to the challenges faced by NONECO, if all possible ways have been exhausted to strengthen and reform cooperative system from within, and what will be its long term effects on electricity rates, workers’ job security, consumer participation, and local accountability.
During a series of long power outages in northern Negros, NONECO had to link up with a substation of Negros Power in Silay City, to provide electricity for thousands of its member-consumers in northern Negros.
In 2023, the claimed to be ailing Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) entered into JVA with Negros Power, which aims to improve the delivery of electric services to member-consumers, by rehabilitating its facilities, among others. Negros Power allocated a capital expenditure of P2.1 billion for the rehabilitation of modernization of CENECO’s aging equipment and facilities.
Of the P2.1 billion CAPEX, it already spent P1.2 billion, a year after it took over operations. On the other hand, Negros Power also said that it did not increase its distribution charges.
Before any binding decision is made, Alminaza said “we strongly urge open, honest and inclusive dialogue among all stakeholders- cooperative members, local government officials, consumer groups, civil society and the Church.”
Let us create spaces where truth, data, and diverse perspectives can be heard and respected. Such discernment is not a delay, but a sign of moral responsibility and civic maturity, the bishop added.
He further stressed that the future of the local power system should not be decided by a few, but through the collective discernment of the very community it serves.*
