BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
The consumers’ group Power Watch Negros expressed opposition yesterday to the scheduled holding of the Annual General Membership Assembly of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative next month.
Wennie Sancho of Power Watch Negros said the holding of the 43rd AGMA in this difficult and trying time is dangerous to the health and lives of the consumers, especially that the city has already logged four cases of the contagious Delta variant of Covid-19.
Sancho said the activity will be a violation of the existing health protocols being implemented by the National Inter-Agency Task Force.
MOU SIGNING
He said a member of the Ceneco Board of Directors raised the Covid situation in Bacolod when he requested for the postponement of the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Ceneco and Power Watch back in April.
The MOU was supposed to be entered by Ceneco and Power Watch to safeguard the welfare of consumers but the latter decided to back out when it was postponed.
Sancho said the health and safety of consumers is their primordial consideration in opposing the AGMA.
Ceneco general manager Danny Pondevilla earlier discussed the holding of a combination face-to-face and virtual AGMA this year.
Pondevilla said a maximum of 50 persons will be allowed to physically attend and the rest will join via a Zoom conference.
He assured that the officers and other consumer-members, who will attend the AGMA in a face-to-face setting, will comply with health protocols.
Ceneco president Jojit Yap said the AGMA is an activity mandated by the National Electrification Administration.
She said it is long overdue, and that it is urgent as they have important matters to discuss, particularly the constitution and bylaws.
Yap assured that they will seek approval from concerned agencies, like the local IATF and the Emergency Operations Center, to ensure that no health protocol violations are committed in the conduct of the AGMA.
Meanwhile, Ceneco consumers will hold a unity forum at the Negros Press Club today to discuss concerns on electricity.
The forum will be led by PWN, the Alliance of Concerned Transport in Occidental Negros, Consumer Alliance for Reform, and other groups from Silay, Talisay, Bago, Salvador Benedicto, and Murcia.
They will present their position paper against the members of the board of directors of Ceneco, who they claimed, do not protect the interest of consumers.*
