BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The congressional inquiry on complaints against the Central Negros Electric Cooperative at the House of Representatives has been reset from November 29 to December 5, disclosed Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya.
Gasataya said he was informed of the change of schedule by Committee on Energy chairperson, Marinduque lone district Congressman Lord Allan Jay Velasco.
Expected to attend the inquiry are CENECO executives and officials of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
Issues currently plaguing CENECO consumers are frequent brown-outs and the high electric rates.
The said inquiry was pushed under House Resolution 475, as well as calls from Negros Occidental 3rd district Congressman Jose Francisco “Kiko” Benitez to investigate CENECO.
CENECO president Jojit Yap earlier welcomed the move of Congress, stressing that the House of Representatives and Senate should also look into the bigger picture, particularly the real causes of high electricity rates.
“This is a national problem affecting all electric coops that they should address. We in the electric cooperatives are hoping that this would lead to Congress review of the EPIRA Law and other national policies (which are of their own making) that have greatly affected the consumers,” Yap said.
She added that the issues on frequent power interruption is a technical concern not just with the electric coops.
This also involves the NGCP and other stakeholders of transmission and distribution lines, Yap stressed.*
