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Tuesday, March 28, 2006
CDA, group seek referendum halt
By Ryan Rosauro
INITAO, Misamis Oriental -- A group of electricity consumers in Misamis Oriental asked a court to stop the holding of a referendum among member-consumers of the Misamis Oriental I Electric Cooperative Inc. (Moresco 1) on the question of its conversion or non-conversion into a stock cooperative.
In a petition filed before the Regional Trial Court of this town on Friday, six Moresco 1 member-consumers alleged that holding the referendum now violates the guidelines set by the National Electrification Administration (NEA) for such exercise.
Orlando R. Ravanera, regional director of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) and one of the petitioners, said Moresco I never coordinated with them "and instead spread malicious lies against the CDA regarding the issue."
Ravanera said the NEA guidelines calls on electric cooperatives to coordinate with concerned agencies affected by the issue like NEA, CDA, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association (Philreca) in the conduct of information campaign regarding the referendum.
Lawyer Fernando T. Ortigoza III, CDA legal counsel, said holding the exercise without sufficiently informing the people and involving key government agencies would result in "serious and irreparable injury" to the electric consumers.
According to Bencyrus Ellorin, northern Mindanao spokesperson of National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reform (Nasecore), the referendum is premature because the member-consumers of Moresco 1 are not yet fully informed about the many sides of the issue.
He alleged that the information campaign of Moresco 1 are biased against the "genuine cooperative option" hence the need to balance the people's perspective.
Ellorin said that by rushing the referendum, Moresco 1 tried to "underhandedly settle a very important issue that merits the informed decision of the electric consumers who are the rightful owners of the electric cooperatives."
Ravanera added that the electric consumers should be informed of the "truth that they stand to benefit if the electric cooperatives convert into genuine cooperatives since they enjoy privileges from the state like exemption from taxation."
The court petition comes a day before the start of a series of referendums throughout the 11 localities comprising the Moresco 1 service area beginning this weekend.
First to hold the exercise will be El Salvador town on Saturday, March 25, then Alubijid and Laguindingan on Sunday. As planned, the referendums will be completed by April 30 with Cagayan de Oro holding the last one.
"We are hopeful the court will grant a temporary restraining order next week," said Ellorin.
Aside from Ravanera, the other petitioners include Nasecore members Claire Reuta, Joseph Antig, George Kaffman, Victorico Galarpe and Andres Bangcoyo.
Moresco 1 is the first electric cooperative organized in the country under its rural electrification program.
(March 28, 2006 issue)
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