EDITORIAL

The State of Integrity In Akelco

"Rest assured that we, your Board of Directors and the management of Akelco, Inc. will continue to look for adequate, reliable, and affordable power supply and continue to provide quality service to the member – consumers". This is quoted from the message of Mr. Jose Carl C. Quimpo, former president, Board of Directors of Akelco published in the 2008 Akelco Annual Report.

In the same Annual Report, Mr. Chito R. Peralta wrote "Keeping the lights on confronts my management amidst the looming power crisis in the Visayas". Peralta further wrote, "Akelco has been preparing for this eventualities and will decisively continue to implement plans and programs for the development of Akelco to ensure houses are continuously lighted and programs of the Province of Aklan remain growing".

Very beautiful words and reassuring. But what is the score? At what energy cost? It is incomplete for Akelco Board and Management to supply adequate electricity to residential, commercial and industrial needs. Akelco is people owned. Akelco Board are trustees of the member consumers who demand the true state of Akelco.

Every member of the Board is elected by the people. Hence, every board member is the representative of the cooperative members who deserve to be informed of the doings in Akelco.

Akelco officers, and rank and file personnel who constitute management are appointed to their respective positions with the consent of the Board and concurrence of the National Electrification Administration.

But there are matters that both the Akelco Board and management had been hiding from the member – consumers. The recent one is the contract Akelco signed with Asea Power I. To assure themselves of the contract’s non-disclosure, "confidentiality clause" is included in the contract. Did Akelco Board member initiate this confidentiality clause?

What is crooked in the contract that Akelco member consumers are disallowed from reading it? Is there a provision in the contract inimical to the interest of the member consumers? Did the Akelco board members took the member – consumers for a ride in affixing their signatures in the contract?

The prevention of member consumers from looking at the Asea Power I document rendered Quimpo’s and Peralta’s message empty, meaning-less, and untrustworthy.

A document for-mulated and approved with honesty, integrity, mutuality, and reciprocity of both parties can strongly withstand all kinds of test. A clean agreement will strongly hold its own no matter how and what. Why deprive the member consumers from glancing at the provisions of the Akelco – Asea Power I contract? After all, it is the member – consumers who pay the cost. Withholding the said contract from the people’s eyes is a flagrant violation of the Philippine Constitution.

Facts

Going over the statements of operations for the last two years as printed in its 2008 Annual Report, Akelco in its 2007 operations lost P93 million. It sold energy valued at P825.2 million but it spent P898.23 million in its operations.

In 2008, Akelco also lost P126.5 million in its operations. It sold P830.9 million worth of energy, but spent P957.4 million in its operation. Akelco lost P219.5 in its two year operations in 2007 and 2008.

Why did Akelco lose? It is losing even if it has reduced its systems loose. It is losing even if its collection efficiency is 99.14 percent. Is it losing because it is categorized as class A (Mega Large)?

Why is Akelco losing? Only the Akelco Board members and management officials are competent to enlighten the member consumers the reason for being as Akelco information is in their hands.

It is only Akelco Board and Management who has the facts about the Amended Electric Power Purchase Agreement between Akelco and Global Business Power Corporation, the state of the P92 million debt, the mysterious P38 million paid when Akelco Board approved P33 million only. Akelco management is highly competent to tell the member consumers why Akelco has accumulated P659.23 million losses. /MP