BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Power Watch Negros (PWN), a power advocacy group, has declared “war” against alleged over-contracting by the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco).
Wennie Sancho, lead convenor of PWN, claimed the skyrocketing price of electricity is rooted in the power supply contracting process.
He challenged the public to access copies of Ceneco’s power supply contracts submitted to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for review and approval as these were public documents.”
The PWN is invoking Article 111 of the Bill of Rights, Section 7 of the 1987 Philipine Constitution, which states that “The right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized. Access to official records, and to documents, and papers pertaining to official acts, transactions or decisions…xxx shall be afforded to the citizen, subject to such limitations as maybe provided by law.” CENECO was issued a Certificate of Permanent Franchise by the National Electrification Administration (NEA) pursuant to P.D. 269.
Ceneco is under the supervision of NEA, Sancho pointed out, and that all its records on power contracting and related documents, including the minutes of the Board meeting, should be made available to the public.
“Ceneco is not a private company, it is a cooperative imbued with public interests,” he stressed.
The PWN vowed to defend the people at the receiving end – the MCO’s already burdened by generation and distribution tariffs, and having to bear the additional burden of pass-on charges.
He further added the problem of over-contracting and market power abuses cannot be resolved without fully transforming the ECs to become more responsive and accountable to the people./PN
