SC asked: Stop NEA control of power co-op

An electric cooperative in Zambales has asked the Supreme Court to stop the National Electrification Administration (NEA) from forcibly taking over its operations.

In an 11-page supplemental petition, the board of directors of the Zambales Electric Cooperative II (Zameco II) led by Jose Dominguez asked the tribunal to restrain NEA, the interim board of directors and engineer Alvin Farrales, the officer-in-charge, from exercising control of the day-to-day operations of the electric cooperative as well as to prevent losses and damage to the interest of Zameco II’s more than 55,000 customer-owners.

The Zameco II board sought a temporary restraining order or status quo ante order from the tribunal to stop the respondents from implementing NEA’s “unnumbered office order” issued last Oct. 31 which, among others, designated engineer Paulino Lopez as Zameco II project supervisor.

Under the NEA order, Lopez will oversee the operations and management of Zameco II, sign checks, withdrawal slips and other banking transactions, and ensure the orderly conduct of elections in all districts.

The petitioners said they are asking the High Court “to stop the private respondents and their cohorts from taking the law into their own hands” and to enjoin NEA “from sanctioning a blatant power grab and arrogating unto itself powers which have been divested by law.”

Records showed that Zameco II asserted its tax exemptions from the local and national governments to reduce its electricity rates by registering with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).

The CDA granted it a certificate of registration pursuant to Republic Act 6938, or the Cooperative Code of the Philippines, and RA 6939, which created the CDA.

“This tax exemption could help the cooperative avoid any power rate increase resulting from its payment of such taxes, an expense that will merely be passed on by the cooperative to its member-customer-owners based on the present cash-flow methodology that is being applied by the Energy Regulatory Commission in setting the tariff for all electric cooperatives,” the Zameco II board’s petition stated.

But the move of the Zameco II board did not sit well with local officials within the cooperative’s service areas. As a consequence, town mayors instigated a forcible takeover of the cooperative and installed an interim board.

Zameco II supplies power to 112 barangays in the towns of Cabangan, San Felipe, San Narciso, San Antonio, San Marcelino, Castillejos and Subic.