Despite the termination of Sulpicio Lagarde Jr. as general manager of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative, the Utility Consumers Alliance of Negros will continue its advocacy for the reduction of Ceneco’s systems loss.

Vicente Petierre lll, legal counsel of UCAN, also said yesterday that the UCAN under Fr. Ernie Larida will continue to ensure transparency in the whole aspect of Ceneco’s operation considering that its rating had gone down to “Yellow B.”

“Right now we are in a critical stage. And if the rating goes down another step lower, this will give the National Electrification Administration justification to take over the operations of Ceneco,” he said.

The Ceneco Board of Directors terminated the services of Lagarde Thursday with seven directors voting in the affirmative and director Edward Gasambelo abstaining.

Those who voted in favor of 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 the general manager continuing to manage the affairs of Ceneco.

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

Petierre said they also find the cost per kilowatt of the would-be contract between Ceneco and Energreen very high, and called the P12.44 per kwh unacceptable.

He said they do not deal with personalities and will still continue their advocacy or air their complaint, if the systems loss is not reduced to a manageable level and if there is no transparency being implemented in Ceneco, no matter who sits as its general manager or members of the board.

Meanwhile, Lagarde claimed that the Board did not observe due process when it terminated him. All its actions should be approved by NEA, he said.

But he walked peacefully out of Ceneco so there will be no tension. He has legal remedies and he is planning to file them before NEA and the Court, he said.

Lapore said one of the things Lagarde failed to address is the 14.58 percent system loss. Only up to 13 percent can be passed on to the consumers based on the NEA guidelines, which shows that Ceneco incurred system loss of P97 million.

The Board wants a general manager coming from Ceneco who is knowledgeable about its operations, he said. But if they could not find one from within, they will look for someone else.

On the other hand, Bacolod Vice Mayor Greg Gasataya said they respect whatever decision the Ceneco Board has made. If there were certain things that were allegedly violated by Lagarde, it is up to them, he said.

Gasataya said the city cannot intervene in the matter because it is separate and distinct from Ceneco.

Whatever policies or decisions made by Ceneco is their call as long as their services to the people, in terms of power supply, will not be affected, he said. *CGS

back to top