THE ongoing Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative (Daneco) dispute involving two factions - the one associated with the National Electrification Association (NEA) and other with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) - drags on and continues to be fought in court, putting in jeopardy the member-consumers, said Daneco-CDA officer-in-charge general manager Jerold Osorio on Monday, February 13.
“Sa mga nahitabo karon, ang mga benepisyo na dapat makuha sa mga member-consumers sama sa pagkunhod sa presyo sa kuryente ug tax exemption wala makuha tungod sa gubot na among nasinati tali NEA (With what's happening now, the benefits that our member-consumers should have had like lower electrical prices and tax exemptions are not being enjoyed due to our ongoing dispute with NEA),” Osorio said.
He insists their certification as an electric cooperative was never cancelled by the court, and yet they are shackled by the court action NEA filed against them.
“We are really not sure where they are coming from. The extent of NEA filing a case in the Ombudsman against former CDA Chairman Emmanuel Santiagel for registering Daneco to CDA is something we cannot understand,” he said.
During the Aquino administration, government has sided with Daneco-NEA, even regarding Daneco-CDA as a ragtag army.
The Duterte administration has not yet taken a stand on this.
In 2012, a referendum allowing the consumer-members of Daneco to decide over matters within the organization was issued and approved.
A total of 51,159 members participated. Of the figure, 49,056 votes were in favor of Daneco to be registered with CDA, while 1,733 wanted to remain with Nea and 330 votes chose to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
But in 2015, Supreme Court ruled in favor of NEA’s petition to be the official administrator of the ailing electric cooperative.
Just this month, NEA proposed a confirmatory referendum to ascertain the result of the 2012 polls.
Daneco-CDA Board Chairman Albert Omega expressed dismay over NEA's disrespect towards the outcome of the 2012 referendum.
“The newly enacted law Republic Act 10531 gives NEA the step-in power to take-over temporarily Daneco but the ultimate direction is to have it registered with CDA as a means of restoring the cooperative into its viable state,” he said.
“The current proposal has no legal basis. It is merely childish, capricious, and whimsical because NEA cannot accept the overwhelming defeat. NEA has no authority to postpone or stop the referendum,” Omega added.
Despite the recent setbacks, Omega is still hopeful that with the Duterte administration, the law will be implemented and Daneco will be given to its rightful owners.
NEA has yet to release their statement with regards this matter.
