Central Negros Electric Cooperative has asked the Energy Regulatory Commission to dismiss the petition filed by Manta Energy Inc. for the enforcement of the contract signed by former CENECO president Vicente Sabornay with IN2 Power, during a conference in Manila Monday.

CENECO general manager Sulpicio Lagarde Jr. yesterday said that during the ERC conference called by Manta Energy on the 46 megawatt power sales contract entered by Sabornay with IN2 Power in 2009, they explained that if the contract is pursued, CENECO will be put in an awkward position.

He said the contract with IN2 Power, which is now Manta Energy, was not authored by the CENECO board.

Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. yesterday said the P12 Emergency Cost of Living Allowance for only three months granted by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board for Western Visayas’ minimum wage earners does not seem right.

He said the board could have granted an amount even less than P12 as long as it was not limited to only three months, but given on a more permanent basis.

Ronald Ian Evidente, Kilusang Mayo Uno Negros spokesperson, meanwhile, said “The P12 ECOLA is another victory for greedy employers in Western Visayas in giving measly allowances by utilizing (the) regional wage board. Workers are unhappy with this slave-allowance.”

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisma has assured the National Federation of Sugarcane Planters that the Aquino administration will not tolerate any individual or group responsible for sugar smuggling.

In a letter to NFSP president Enrique Rojas, a copy of which was furnished the DAILY STAR yesterday, Purisima said “sugar smuggling, is a very serious issue and we would like to deal with it immediately and effectively. I would like to assure you that the government is one with you in our efforts to curb sugar smuggling.”

Purisima was responding to an open letter of Rojas to President Bemigno Aquino, published in national and local newspapers, on the issue of rampant sugar smuggling in the country.