The Central Negros Electric Cooperative refused to accept the application of the Bacolod City government for electrical connection to the new government center when it was submitted Tuesday afternoon, Bacolod City Legal Officer Allan Zamora said yesterday.

Zamora said CENECO claimed that the 5-hectare lot donated to the government center lacks a technical description, but these were, in fact, included in the deed of donation submitted by the city to CENECO.

Zamora said he is wondering why CENECO manager Erlo Sajo is questioning it because only the court can decide on the matter.

The lot title is not a requirement of an electric cooperative but of the city because of an ordinance requiring an applicant to secure the consent of the lot owner, he said.

Zamora said Sajo should know that the city is not stupid to put up a building worth about P394 million on a lot it does not own.

He said a member of the board of directors of CENECO confirmed that Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella keeps on reminding them not to provide electric connection to the government center.

That must be why CENECO refused their application for the electrification of the government center Tuesday afternoon, despite an agreement it signed with the city at the Bishop’s Palace, he added.

Their refusal is a violation of that agreement Zamora said. It is not only the mayor they are trying to embarrass but also the Bishop who had mediated on the case.

The city complied with all the requirements of CENECO, including the deed of donation with the lot plan, he added.

It also issued a check to CENECO for P1.8 million as first payment of its outstanding account for July 2007-June 2008 payable in 18 installments effective January 2009, and paid P567,677.35 as fees for service connection, he said.

PAYMENTS

Secretary to the Mayor Vicente Petierre III said the city also issued various checks in payment of its account from July to November 2008 amounting to P937,484.35.

He said that, based on CENECO’s summary of accounts, the bill of the city is only P931,000. But the city paid its bill for December, which was not included in the agreement, so their total payment was P937,484.35, he added. 

Petierre said the city attended the meeting called by the Bishop in order to end the impasse with CENECO which was affecting the people. But it appears that CENECO intentionally violated the agreement their president signed before the Bishop, he said.

CENECO’s refusal to accept the application of the city for the electrification of the government center is an insult to the people and to the Bishop, he added.

Zamora said that while CENECO refused their application, it accepted the payment of the city, including the P1.1 million stipulated in the contract, until now, CENECO has not paid its franchise taxes and real property taxes for 2006 that it owes the city.

ISSUES CLARIFIED

Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the issue of the land title was clarified during the meeting at the Bishop’s House and that it will be enough for the city to submit the deed of donation.

“This is already a consummated donation and all this time the Gonzaga family, in many ways, has made it clear that they have donated the property to the city,” Leonardia said.

He said the Philippine National Bank granted the city a loan of P400 million for the government center project because it knows that the lot now rightfully belongs to the city. If there had been a problem with the title, PNB would not have granted them the loan, he added.

Leonardia said “I want the people to know the truth about all this, and even behind all this,” he said. He said he also believes that the Bishop and the National Electrification Administration should know about the matter, he added.

Meanwhile, the city submitted its application again to CENECO yesterday.

DELIBERATION, EVALUATION

CENECO president Vicente Sabornay said the application has already been deliberated on by their board of directors and would be subjected to evaluation, during the meeting he presided over yesterday.

He said the board members are asking for the title number in the deed of donation because, they said, the donor has an owner’s copy of the title. If the property was subdivided, the lot number of the mother title should be adopted, he said. That is why Sajo asked the city to clarify the matter, he said.

Sabornay admitted that during the meeting at the Bishop’s Palace, they agreed to accept the application of the city.

The premise of the city is that the title is a non-issue because they have no title, he said. In lieu of the title, the city only had a deed of donation, so they asked for a copy, he added. He also said it is not correct to say that since there is a deed of donation, it is already the title, adding that if Zamora believes Puentevella is behind all this, that is only his belief.*CGS

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