“Always think, work, and act for the best interest of the consumers.”

This was the advice of Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Anthony Golez to the officials of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative amid the ongoing rift between the camp of board president Edward Gasambelo and his predecessor, Vicente Sabornay.

They should be true to their theme, Golez, who was the guest speaker at the 34th Annual General Membership Assembly of CENECO Saturday afternoon at the West Negros University Gym, said.  

“I’m also a CENECO consumer, I would always want the leaders of CENECO to be acting accordingly, faithfully to their jobs,” he said.

Golez swore into office newly-elected directors Pepito Malapitan of District II-Bacolod South, who replaced director Julius Tamayo;  Zenaida Lacson of District III-Bacolod Central; and Roberto Montelibano before a crowd of almost 900 consumer-members.

MEMBERS’ CONFIDENCE

Gasambelo, for his part, said the presence of the consumer-members at the 34th AGMA reflects their confidence in his leadership.

“With this crowd, I think we had it…. the confidence of the people is already there, I will not fail them,” he said after the gathering.

The attendance, however, was lower compared to the previous years when at least 2,000 consumer-members would come.

Nevertheless, Gasambelo declared: “Starting today, the boss of the CENECO employees are the consumers, not CENECO. They have to realize that their livelihood comes from the hard work of consumers. I’m thankful they (consumers) came here to show their support.”

He also warned Sabornay and his camp against holding an “illegitimate” membership assembly. 

Sabornay had earlier announced that he, along with directors Tamayo, Raul Alvarez Jr., and Roberto Benedicto, will ask for clearance from the National Electrification Administration to hold their own assembly where he will deliver his president’s report.

Sabornay, who was replaced by Gasambelo on March 20 after losing the support of the board majority, claimed that the assembly held on Saturday was not supposed to take place due to lack of consultation and insufficient time for preparations.

“They can go ahead with it but the issue here is whether it is legitimate. I’m sorry for Atty. Sabornay, but any act beyond this is already illegitimate as far as CENECO is concerned,” Gasambelo said.

During Saturday’s assembly, a number of CENECO employees were facilitating the program, including a raffle after the meeting.

Copies of the CENECO 2008 Annual Report, containing messages from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Presidential Adviser on Rural Electrification Francisco Silva, NEA Administrator Edita Bueno, and from congressmen and mayors whose jurisdictions are covered by CENECO were distributed to reporters.   

The report also contained detailed technical, financial, and institutional data on CENECO operations for 2008 and previous years.   

STABLE OPERATIONS

Enrique Tabino, legal officer and OIC-general manager, said the operation of CENECO is stable.   

“Whatever legal questions had arisen previously are over.  With that, I hope the other faction will realize that majority rules, and stop the intramurals because CENECO has many problems. Let’s think of the consumers first,” he said.

Tabino said that with Tamayo no longer in the board, the majority will belong to the group of Gasambelo in the next reorganization of the board.

He also brushed aside the criticism from the Sabornay camp that he is tolerating the acts of Gasambelo and his allies.

“I’ve been in CENECO for 36 years but I never take part in the board’s intramurals. The members of the board are separate and distinct from the management,” Tabino said. “They do policy-making.  I’m with the management so I never intrude into the affairs of the board. If they give me an assignment, I do it. But I don’t represent the interest of the board.”

Tabino said he accepted the position of OIC-general manager only on an interim basis.

“If there are legal questions, why did he (Sabornay) not bring the case to court. He’s a lawyer, after all,” he said.

Tabino also said that employees should not get involved in the affairs of the board, referring to the actions of the CENECO Union of Rational Employees siding with Sabornay.

“They should (just) do their job. If they want to be part of policy-making, they should run for directors,” he added.*NLG

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