Albay Electric Cooperative resumes operations

Residents of Albay can now transact again with the Albay Electric Cooperative (ALECO), which has resumed the operation of a local electricity firm in the province after it was granted an approval by the National Electrification Administration (NEA), the head of the cooperative claimed.

 

"The board is now functional with offices having been opened where member-consumers can transact business which includes payment of bills, request for connections and reconnections, receipt of complaints and other services that the Cooperative used to give to its clientele efficiently," Atty. Bartolome Rayco, sitting president of ALECO's Interim Board of Directors (IBOD) said in a press statement.

 

Rayco claimed that ALECO is the sole entity given authority by NEA to operate the local electricity firm.

 

“The acts performed by the ALECO employees are valid – from the office clerks, linemen and other personnel, they are all legitimate and legal including the operation of ALECO as it is the only Franchisee granted by NEA to operate the local electricity firm,” Rayco said.

 

ALECO was acquired early last year by San Miguel Energy Corporation’s subsidiary Global Power Holdings Corp. (SMC Global) and renamed it as Albay Power and Energy Corporation (APEC). This made ALECO as the first local electricity cooperative that was privatized.

 

However, the ALECO Employees Organization (ALEO) and the ALECO Multi-Sectoral Stakeholders Organization (AMSSO) in November last year filed a case with the Albay Regional Trial Court, seeking to issue a temporary restraining order and eventually to nullify the acquisition.

 

The group claimed that the Concession Agreement the SMC entered into with the former ALECO IBOD then headed by Bishop Joel Baylon, was illegal as it was done through a rigged  bidding and a highly-manipulated constituent assembly.

 

Rayco said manning their three ALECO offices now are personnel of the cooperative who were dismissed early last year by APEC.

 

About a hundred personnel of ALECO were reportedly dismissed by APEC shortly after the takeover. However, in March of last year, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz issued a Return To Work Order (RTWO) for the dismissed personnel.

 

ALEO vice president Ephraim De Vera had earlier claimed that instead of honoring the DOLE’s order, the APEC instead offered a separation pay to the dismissed employees, which the employees refused to honor.

 

“With this development, we call on all member-consumers to support the legitimate electric cooperative in Albay which is ALECO so that the power firm can go back to its original normal operation prior to the questionable encroachment by APEC which has disrupted the efficient services rendered to local electricity clients,” Rayco said.

 

The offices of ALECO are located at Jollikod Canteen, Marquez St., Albay District, Legazpi City, ALECO Sub-station Highway, Tabaco City and at Mrs. Lerma Camba Residence, in Camalig, Albay.  — Elizabeth Marcelo/ELR, GMA News