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Power Watch urges Ceneco to resolve crises

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BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO

Power advocates Roy Cordova, Rodolfo Song, Wennie Sancho and Ted Macainan (l-r) during a press conference in Bacolod City yesterday*

Local power advocacy group Power Watch Negros Advocates Inc. and other consumers group in Bacolod City are strongly recommending that labor and management of Central Negros Electric Cooperative return to the negotiating table to resolve the crisis affecting the power utility firm.

Power Watch secretary general Wennie Sancho said Ceneco is confronted by the twin problems of heavy financial burden amounting to about P280 million with issuance of a “notice of default” from KEPCO-SPC and the labor dispute emanating from a “notice of strike” filed by the Ceneco Union of Rational Employees (CURE) which is its sole and exclusive bargaining agent.

Sancho said Ceneco is like a “house on fire” and there is a need for somebody to put the fire out before it becomes a conflagration and burn down everything. So, they want to help Ceneco in order that the labor strike won’t proceed because it will have adverse effects on consumers if Ceneco’s operations will be paralyzed.

CURE headed by its president Staffanie Montaner, which is composed of 322 members, is planning to hold a labor strike for the non-Implementation by Ceneco of the approved Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) which include the employees’ 5 percent salary increase. Instead, Ceneco had set a condition that they should attain a 95 percent collection efficiency, which they believe is unattainable in the present situation.

If Ceneco can give the members of the Board a bonus of P80,000, why can’t it grant the request of the employees? Sancho asked.

In order to have industrial peace in Ceneco, they are appealing to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for the labor dispute between the union and management to be submitted for voluntary/compulsory arbitration to iron out and avert the strike because the electric cooperative (EC) is an industry that is indispensable to the national interest, he said.

At the same time, Ceneco should acknowledge its obligation to KEPCO-SPC amounting to about P280 million as of September 2021, or find ways to settle it. Unless the contract between Ceneco and KEPCO-SPC is rescinded, the amount will accumulate until May when the contract ends and that KEPCO may terminate its services to Ceneco, Sancho said.

If Ceneco gets power from WESM, this is the most expensive trading center in the country, he added.

Sancho said they are against the privatization of Ceneco. But if there is chaos and inefficiency in the management of Ceneco, consumers might believe that privatization will be a better option.

Acting Ceneco general manager Jose Taniongon said that it is the National Electrification Administration (NEA) that proposed to Cenecoin a letter dated January 20, to attain a 95 percent collection efficiency before it could grant the demand of the employees based on their CBA.

Taniongon said if the employees will proceed with the strike, their operations will be paralyzed. And since they could not outsource, they will seek assistance from the NEA on what to do.

He only assumed the position of OIC general manager on December 16, 2021 and the P80,000 bonus of the members of the Board was already processed and subject for release, he said when asked about the matter.

Regarding the P280 million obligation with KEPCO-SPC, for as long as ERC has no decision on the rates, the matter cannot yet be considered an obligation of Ceneco, Taniongon added.*

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