BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
Power Watch Negros Advocates yesterday scored Central Negros Electric Cooperative for the early Christmas bonus it has given its employees.
One day after the holding of the 44th Annual General Membership Assembly (AGMA) Sunday, Ceneco congratulated and awarded themselves by releasing P15,000 for each employee including the Ceneco Board of Directors (BOD), Power Watch Negros secretary general Wennie Sancho said in a press statement.
Sancho said this is half of the P30,000 categorization bonus (Triple AAA).
“What a contrast!”, he said that while the consumers are coughing up from excessive electricity rate, the Ceneco employees including the members of the BOD are full and plenty.
Unfortunately, they also received a demand letter from Kepco to return the P54 million performance bond that Ceneco forfeited from it, Sancho added.
Meanwhile, in his message during the AGMA, NEA Administrator Emmanuel Juaneza commended Ceneco for its dedication that is evident in its achievement of a Triple A rating in the latest Electric Cooperative (EC) Overall Performance Assessment.
“Your accomplishment of 106 percent consumer connections, 103 percent repayment to NEA, and good payment to power providers are manifestations of your commitment to the Rural Electrification Program (REP), Juaneza said.
With the directive to electrify the remaining unserved and underserved sitios, while preserving our natural resources, the consumers expect so much from Ceneco. The growing needs of the member-consumer-members (MCOs) must be addressed to spur opportunities that will ensure the improvement of their living conditions, he said.
Juaneza also encouraged Ceneco to keep innovating, as well as build up its capabilities that will help further the gains of the countryside development.
The constantly changing times with evolving technologies necessitates Ceneco to develop its craft by looking at renewable energy that will help it accomplish its target and complete the REP, he said and assured that NEA will support Ceneco in all its worthy endeavor.
On the other hand, Ceneco president Jojit Yap, in her president’s report, said that based on their 2021 Electrification Project Report, Ceneco was able to energize a total of 238 sitios as part of the Sitio Electrification Program.
Last year, they launched one of Ceneco’s biggest projects – the Productive Use of Renewable Energy (PURE 4) project in partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE) and European Union’s Access to Sustainable Energy Program (ASEP), Team Energy Foundation, Inc., and the local government unit of Don Salvador Benedicto, Yap said.
The goal of the project is to augment the income of the pineapple farmers and boost the local economy through the installation of solar-powered decorticating machine which process pineapple leaves into quality fiber. PURE4 project is also aimed at supporting renewable and sustainable energy, she said.
Despite having been affected by Typhoon Odette, Ceneco was able to send help to its fellow electric cooperatives through Task Force Kapatid, Yap said.
In 2021, Ceneco has strengthened its campaign against electricity pilferage as mandated under R.A 7832 or the “Anti-Pilferage Act of 1994.” Bantay Kuryente targets to eliminate illegal connections that contribute to its systems loss, she added.*
