Rural co-ops versus Nasecore

A few years back, we wrote extensively on the positive developments in the rural power cooperatives sector – the large segment of the electric power industry owned and managed by its member-consumers and which reaches out to the farthest corners of the remotest towns in the country.

We patted on the back our 119 or so rural power coops, represented by the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (Philreca) for their valiant efforts at turning the sector around – from moribund to one of the key players in the bid to push progress forward in the countryside.

We were, therefore, concerned to learn from some of our fellow columnists that our rural power coops sector is currently engaged in a fight over big money with a purported power consumer group called Nasecore which figured prominently in the aborted bid for an alleged government take-over of the Manila Electric Company.

From what we gathered, the rural power coops are up in arms over the alleged move by Nasecore to corner a hefty sum of money allocated by the government through the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for the education of power consumers.

We inquired from friends from the National Electrification Administration (NEA) – which we also largely credited for the decisive reforms in the rural power coops sector – what this silent war over millions of pesos in power consumer funds was all about.

Our sources made available to us documents which showed that Nasecore, headed by one Pete Ilagan, had asked for more than P10 million in so-called Consumer Education Funds from the ERC and was successful in obtaining a handsome sum in the process.

The documents also showed that the rural power coops sector, through Philreca, has vehemently objected to the bid by Nasecore to corner this fund. The rural power coops pointed out that Nasecore’s activities are concentrated only in Metro Manila. They also said that Nasecore has not done anything for power consumers in the remote areas under the jurisdiction of the rural power coops sector.

The rural coops have a point. Altogether, the rural power coops serve a number of consumers and a land area significantly bigger than Meralco’s. It must be admitted that they have a bigger need for support for their consumer education efforts.

Frankly, we do not understand what the so-called Nasecore has done to educate us power consumers here in Metro Manila. It appears to us that the group is more concerned with its war against Meralco than in enlightening us on the basics we need to know about the electric power industry.

Our media colleagues have advised us that this rural power coops fight over big money with Nasecore may have to do with a looming party-list representation in Congress. This is why there are concerns within the rural power coops sector regarding the millions that Nasecore appears to have cornered for “consumer education” .

This is a sad development in the power industry. It is disconcerting to note that after millions of pesos have been released for “consumer education”, we still find ourselves largely ignorant about power industry issues.

And sadder still that the millions did not go to our rural power coops which have a bigger need for this consumer education assistance.

The least that Pete Ilagan’s Nasecore could do is tell us all where the millions of pesos in consumer education funds went. After all, we are the consumers he is supposed to have educated using that money.

SC succession part II

In earlier items, I also wrote about Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Diosdado Peralta, who I consider to be one of the leading contenders for a seat in the seven vacancies in the Supreme Court next year.

I pointed to rumors and concerns that he might bow to political pressures in deciding the case of a known Malacanang ally, Rodriguez Mayor Pedro Cuerpo, in the latter’s favor because of his impending nomination.

It appears that the wild talk and apprehension were effectively debunked by the fact that Justice Peralta has inhibited himself from the case and did not cling to it unlike certain justices of the Court of Appeals in the recent GSIS-Meralco row, who showed lack of delicadeza in engaging in a tug-of-war to hold on to the case.

And as I stated, these rumors were most unfair to Justice Peralta since he is most qualified for the Supreme Court and does not have to bow to political pressure to ensure his appointment. A quick look at the list of applicants being screened by the Judicial and Bar Council will show that among the applicants from the judiciary, he is the most senior in rank because the presiding justices of the other collegiate courts (Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez and Court of Tax Appeals Presiding Justice Ernesto Acosta) are not on the list.

Also, looking at the credentials of the applicants, Justice Peralta clearly has the edge. Having risen from the ranks, both in the prosecution service and the judiciary, he was distinguished with such coveted awards as the Most Outstanding Public Prosecutor (1994) and Judicial Excellence Awardee for Outstanding RTC Judge (2002) as proof of his competence, dedication and integrity.

He is also active in the academe as a professor, reviewer and lecturer in criminal law and criminal procedure at the University of Santo Tomas, his alma matter, the Ateneo College of Law, University of the East College of Law, Philippine Christian University, San Sebastian College, and San Beda College.

During his stint as regional trial court judge in Quezon City, Justice Peralta has been tagged as the “hanging judge” having sentenced to death 44 people in 20 cases he handled with a 90-percent conviction rate. He was one of the conveners of the Guillotine Club, and was also the first trial court judge who handed down a guilty verdict in a plunder case.

Given his enormous experience in both the prosecution and the judiciary, it thus appears that Justice Peralta has a good chance of getting appointed to the Supreme Court and we hope that he continues to assert his independence in deciding cases elevated to the High Court.

For comments, email at [email protected]