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MANILA - To insulate electric cooperatives from partisan politics, the National Electrification Administration has ordered the automatic resignation of officials and employees of rural distributors who will run for elective posts.
Edita S. Bueno, NEA administrator, said the agency has issued guidelines mandating that coop officials who will file their certificates of candidacy shall be considered automatically resigned from their respective positions, effective February 12, 2013 for senatorial and party-list candidates; and March 29, 2013 for those running for the House. regional, provincial, city and municipal positions.
“This is one way wherein NEA and the ECs can help in ensuring peaceful and organized elections. We would also want to guarantee that the interest of the electric coops and their member-consumers will not be affected in case an official or employee decides to run for a national or local post," she said.
Also, to keep the voters from being confused, elections of electric cooperative officials scheduled on the first semester of 2013 shall be deferred to the second semester of the same year.
The conduct of member assemblies scheduled on the first semester may also be postponed, if the respective boards of electric coops deem that its conduct will be affected by the elections. Deferred AGMAs shall be held the following semester of the year.
Electric cooperatives are then required to submit the rescheduled dates of the district elections and AGMAs to NEA within 30 days prior to the actual conduct for monitoring purposes.
Bueno said that directors elected in the deferred elections shall immediately assume office upon taking their oath and shall serve only the remaining portion of the current three-year term.
Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras earlier said local politicians are the "biggest single problem we have in making electric cooperatives sustainable."
He said coops have been amassing unpaid bills to power suppliers and lenders because of partisan politics at the grassroots level.
To remove local politician influence over electric cooperatives, the DOE has been calling for changes in NEA's charter under House Bill 6214 or the NEA Reform Act of 2012.
The bill proposes to transform NEA into a sole industry regulator similar to that of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas over banks. NEA's current tasks are mainly limited to providing financial and technical support to electric cooperatives.
Part of the proposed oversight is the power to appoint or replace officials of the 120 electric cooperatives in the country who are presently elected by member-consumers they serve.
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