A fact-finding team from the National Electrification Administration arrived in Bacolod City yesterday to look into the case of the Board of Directors of Central Negros Electric Cooperation against dismissed Ceneco general manager Sulpicio Lagarde Jr.

The team was composed of lawyers Ricardo Orias and Goldileo Rivera, head of NEA Legal Department, and Financial and Operations Committee head, respectively.

The Ceneco Board terminated the services of Lagarde on November 26, with seven directors voting in the affirmative and Director Edward Gasambelo abstaining.

Those who voted in favor of the resolution, removing Lagarde were Directors Arnel Lapore, Michael Maravilla, Paul Lizares, Joyce Martha Cuenca, Zenaida Lacson, Vicente Tan and Robert Javellana.

The resolution said that in its evaluation of Lagarde, the Board collectively rated him 5.2 out of 10 with the lowest rating being attributed to the level of competence.

It said the Board has lost its trust and confidence in Lagarde to continue managing the affairs of Ceneco.

It also said the systems loss of Ceneco had reached 16 percent and to date it is still above the 14.58 percent cap, exposing Ceneco to losses.

Lagarde said yesterday that NEA wants to understand or listen to the sentiments of the Board and the reasons for their decision to terminate him.

He said that after they have submitted a report on their findings to NEA Administrator Edith Bueno, he will be asked to answer the issues against him by the Ceneco Board.

Lagarde said the Board should have issued him a memo about the charges against him, and if he cannot explain, then he should be informed about the penalties.

Ceneco president Arnel Lapore said the team only wanted to verify the status of Ceneco.

“We told them that the operation of Ceneco is normal and everything flowed smoothly even without Lagarde,” he said. Even the department heads and employees do not feel any pressure, he added

They also informed the NEA officials that Ceneco has suffered financial losses because of the leadership crisis, he said.

“We also told them that without Lagarde we are happy, not because he lost his job, but because we felt he was not fit to lead as general manager,” he added.

He said they observed due process before removing Lagarde. He said they did not make a decision out of the blue and took several weeks before coming up with a decision.

Earlier Lagarde said they did their best to arrest the increase in the systems loss and pilferage is part of it. The capacity of Ceneco to provide good service to its consumers depends on the repair, rehabilitation and maintenance of its system and facilities, he said.

Meanwhile, Lapore said Lagarde filed a case before the National Labor Relations Commission without waiting for NEA to review their resolution. He also wrote NEA Administrator Edith Bueno detailing his objection to their grounds for terminating him, he said. But they will respond to the letter, he added.*CGS

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