NEA decides to re-publish vacant DANECO GM post; Laniba out

Feb 10-16, 2011

The National Electrification Administration (NEA) has recently given the go signal to the Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative (Daneco) board of directors to re-publish the notice of vacancy for the general manager position.

The NEA’s recent decision to seek for new applicants for general manager nationwide is seen as its usual paying of respect to the independence in the decision-making of the Daneco’s board whose current majority dislike Daneco insider-employee Allan Laniba to become the regular GM.

Last January the Daneco board in a resolution recommended to the NEA to re-publish the notice of vacancy of the GM post rather than go for the option of confirming Laniba to become the regular GM.

NEA Administrator Editha Bueno gave an advisory last December to either re-publish the notice of vacancy for the GM post or confirm Laniba, for which the board opted for re-publication visibly thumbing down the prequalification of Laniba following his short-lived OIC GMship in 2009.

For over two years now NEA has been noted to be often throwing back Daneco boardroom’s contentious issues for ultimate decision of the board.
NEA’s rules however provide the board of power cooperative to have the final say on the choice of the regular GM although it is NEA which tests, preselects, shortlists GM post candidates and recommends to the board.

Daneco insiders interviewed said that with the NEA’s decision and with the strong sticking out of the Daneco’s majority led by board president Dean Briz to give no-confidence measure to Laniba’s managerial capacity, “he has no more face to insist to become our GM”.

Reports said earlier that in the 12-man board only one director is supporting Laniba.
Laniba is currently defending charges of mismanaging the small affairs of the recently abolished Barangay Power Associations (BAPAs) where several BAPA officers were accused of pocketing several millions of power bill collections, which they failed to remit to Daneco’s coffers.

Engr. Nelson Balangan has been acting as the Daneco OIC GM since April 2010.(cha monforte)

Filed under: Alan Laniba, Allan Laniba, Daneco GM, Alan Laniba, alan lanida, daneco, laniba

NEWS: Terminated Daneco deputy GM reinstated, but legal counsel says need to TRO

By Cha Monforte, Rural Urban News

feb 11 

The deputy general manager of Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative who was terminated in 2008 for alleged wrongdoings is now back working on his same position since last Friday after winning in a labor case that dragged for over two years.

“I’m back on the basis of a court order, back to my former position built-in the plantilla of positions approved by the National Electrification Administration,” said Engr. Felix Hibionada, who received from Daneco more than P1 million representing his back wages reckoned since April 2008 including legal and attorney’s fees.

Hibionada said, in an interview yesterday at Daneco-Tagum office, that he was “illegally terminated” by late general manager Edgar Savellano in April 2008 after he was re-assigned for long “from a deputy GM to a section head” in faraway Samal Island on allegations that he “stole wooden crates of transformers that could be used as firewood” and on the charge that “he was caught on drinking sprees during working time”.

On the latter accusation, he admitted that there was a “birthday, an occasion that he attended” but denied he was “on drinking spree”. “Wala ko nagainom, nagkataon lang to”.  

“I was also suspected to be one who instigated underground movement of Daneco employees to fight excesses and to file administrative case against Savellano,” he added.

He said all the charges against him were “purely malicious accusations” and that he was vindicated by the court’s writ of execution reinstating him last week. 

Earlier, six of the eleven members of Daneco board of directors (BOD) voted not to seek for the second time a temporary restraining order (TRO) to the Court of Appeals following the court’s denial of an earlier TRO filed by Daneco and the reversal of the National Labor Relations Commission’s reversal of a labor arbiter’s ruling that originally confirmed Hibionada’s termination.

Currently, Daneco’s BOD is locked in a struggle on the issue of replacing OIC general manager Allan Laniba with its latest showing of hairline votes favoring Hibionada’s reinstatement, which was opposed by pro-Laniba directors.  

In separate interview, Daneco legal counsel Jess Albacite said there was a need to seek TRO as there was a “greater winning chance” that Daneco would eventually win in the case against Hibionada and would not waste its money spending for his back wages claims.

“We should have a restraining order of the settlement until the Court of Appeals ruled out the finality of this case. We should not give-up the fight and have the coop pay a million of pesos to him. Any member-consumer could complain against us if we simply concede this and whatsoever will happen, it is going to be the board, who will pay the amount for this,” Atty. Albacite said.

But directors including board president Dean Briz who have opposing the current management turned the table citing that the other outcome might make Daneco lose more and inevitably pay Hibionada at greater legal costs under the burden of the power cooperative. 

Voting to reinstate Hibionada were directors Briz, Ananias Darjan Jr, Roman Calicdan, Samuel Lacierda, Jr., Miguel Fermil and Brendo P. Ceniza.

Voting in negative were directors Dr. Antonio Sebumpan Eugenio Ramonida, Engr. Dan Gervacio, retired Col. Dominador Cruda and Orlando Bugas.

Meanwhile, Daneco Tagum employees interviewed yesterday hailed Laniba for topping as number 1 in the emotional quotient (EQ) and intelligence quotient (IQ) tests made by the NEA to almost 600 applicants to general manager positions in various electric cooperatives throughout the country.  (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News)

Filed under: Alan Laniba, daneco, Engr. Felix Hibionada, Miguel Fermil, Samuel Lacierda, Engr. Felix Hibionada

NEWS: DavNor has 18,973 fresh new registrant voters

First-to-vote youths

By Cha Monforte

jan 19

Davao del Norte has a total of 18,973 fresh new registrant voters, presumably the youths who would vote for the first time on the coming May polls.

But the number of these new voters is evenly and scarcely scattered in all towns and cities of the province with roughly each of their municipal or city number delivering an increase of only six percent (6%) to their respective places.

Overall, they delivered an increase of only five percent (5%) to the total 464,788 registered voters of Davao del Norte for the coming polls.

The figures were obtained yesterday from the consolidated progress report of the Comelec Davao del Norte provincial office. It was signed by provincial election officer Atty. Marlon Casquejo after the November 16, 2009 election registration board hearing.

The province’s new total number of registered voters though has only jumped by two-percent increase from the 454,460 total registered voters during the barangay election on October 29, 2007.

Tagum City has the highest number of fresh new voters with 4,441 while San Isidro town has only 623.

The city also stands to be the most votes-rich with its 112,831 voters constituting about 24 percent of the total registered voters in the province, followed by Panabo City with its 87,404 voters constituting 18 percent and placing third is the three-district Island Garden City of Samal with its 52,230 voters.

The hinterland Talaingod settled as the town with smallest number of registered voters with its 9,205 voters, an increase of 3 percent from 2007 barangay election while total voters in Asuncion , Kapalong and San Isidro towns and Panabo City had their number of voters dropped in the range of 2 to 7 percent.

In descending order the total registered voters of the towns and cities of Davao del Norte are: 112,831- Tagum City ; 87,404- Panabo City ; 58,215- Sto. Tomas; 52,230- Igacos; 33,711- Kapalong; 33,407- Carmen; 27,429- Asuncion; 25,479- New Corella; 13,551- San Isidro, 11,326- BE Dujali; and 9,205- Talaingod.

Filed under: provincial election officer Atty. Marlon Casquejo, davao del norte number of voters, provincial election officer Atty. Marlon Casquejo

NEWS: Mylene not yet withdrawing from Daneco GM bid- Salve

“NEA would have still to declare the position vacant”

july 21

Tagum City Councilor Mylene Baura has not yet withdrawn from her bid as she has yet to apply for the vacant position of general manager of the multi-billionaire Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative (Daneco), clarified City Councilor Reynaldo Salve in an ambush interview during a forced break of their session due to a sudden brownout Monday morning.

Baura, a lawyer and certified public accountant (CPA), was earlier endorsed in a resolution filed at the City Council in last week’s session as more than qualified to be the next Daneco general manager following the death of GM Edgardo Savellano.

She was present on Monday’s session but she went out from the session hall when the session resumed after about 10 minutes of power interruption.

Salve said that inasmuch that the National Electrification Administration (NEA) or the Daneco Board of Directors has not yet declared the position vacant and “published it in a newspaper” nobody could yet apply for Daneco GM.

Salve said that the the right process based on the bylaws is that first NEA would have first to receive applications from applicants for the GM and it (NEA) would have to select from among qualified applicants and endorse him or her to the Daneco Board which would also endorse its choice to NEA for confirmation.

“The resolution of endorsement to Mylene is still referred to the committee on government organizations and nongovernment organizations,” Salve clarified in the heels of reports that Baura has withdrawn from her GM’s bid in favor of the current OIC GM Alan Laniba, who was endorsed the other Saturday by all of the present members of Daneco Board except member Dean Briz, the city budget officer and Mayor Rey Uy’s protege.

“NEA has still many things to do in selecting who should head Daneco including doing BI (background investigation) on the applicants,” Salve said.

The resolution endorsing Baura for Daneco GM in last week’s session had fueled speculations that Mayor Uy was pulling the strings in his plan of putting the electric cooperative that services most of Davao del Norte, all of Compostela Valley and the Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos) under the city’s program and direction.

Daneco has over 120,000 member-consumers at present.

For its 37 years of existence now, Daneco is already billionaire cooperative deriving about P1.2-billion operating revenue as of November 2007, per earlier report of Daneco official website. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News)

Filed under: Alan Laniba, daneco, Daneco GM, tagum city councilor mylene baura, tagum mayor rey uy, Alan Laniba, daneco, Daneco GM, tagum city councilor mylene baura, tagum mayor rey uy

OPINION: Tagum City Hall’s gambit?

BLOGISTA

By Cha Monforte

The cat is out in the bag, and now we know that Tagum City Councilor Mylene Baura is being tossed up the city officialdom to vie for the coveted position of the general manager of billionaire Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative. Of course, the lady whom a colleague of her in a council supra dominated by men calls a pretty city legislator has all the rights to apply for as well as the qualifications to hold the position. She’s not only the rose among the thorns- she’s a lawyer and an accountant as well.

By the city council’s full endorsement of her bid last Monday, and presumably due to the imprimatur of City Mayor Rey Uy, at no time in the wildest dream of OIC GM Alan Laniba, who is junior in age of Councilor Mylene (and others say he’s yet underage to be a Daneco GM), has he been given a good contender, who is in fact more than qualified than him except that Laniba counts to be an insider than an outsider and has reportedly the backing of the present Board of Directors as he gets the impression of being the most senior among the seven other department managers. But maybe the councilor, who is still single, is, too, a member-concessionaire like the Daneco info man.

This city council endorsement visibly revives or reveals once again the city mayor’s long interest to put Daneco under the city hall’s direction. There was that power summit called by him but the Daneco’s power holders did not give meaning of it. And the libel case filed by Daneco officers against Ed Valdez, the mayor’s info man, which was already dismissed, was a side story in what can be seen as an imbroglio between the City Hall officialdom and Daneco management. It generated more speculations, while it is far-fetched to say it trod on the path of Barry Levinson’s Wag the Dog satire.

With Councilor Baura’s entry, Laniba must all the more defend himself in public that he is more than qualified to lead a big organization covering two provinces and an island even with the looming energy crisis and power rates increases ahead of us. After all, he styles himself a mediaman even while employed as the senior manager for Institutional Services Department, which functions like a public and media affairs department like in the corporate world, even as he clings to the position as the president of the National Press Club-Davao del Norte and Comval Chapter (was this NPC chaptering recognized by NPC-National? Just asking). Morever, Laniba is also writing columns and is reportedly the publisher of a local weekly which his sister Jo circulates - even past Daneco’s doors. And these give him all the right to reply. By that particular engagement, Alan must also be transparent, and declare transparency he must now as one of his cherished policies under his management if heavens favorably smile at him.

But there’s a quiver in the thought of some observers over the councilor’s non-reluctance to apply for the position knowing that the city council had been already stigmatized by two stunts of mandate abandonments made by  then Councilor Tristan Royce Aala who went to Japan, and then Councilor Agripino Coquilla who went to become the unconfirmed provincial engineer of Compostela Valley during the time of former Governor Jose “Joecab” Caballero. For trying to go for greener pastures (just nobody could block anybody wishing to try his luck outside), the first reportedly had his finger broken in an accident, while the second had his heart broken for not being confirmed by the provincial board, and media-tatterred while sources said they both had sterling legislative record before their unimagined stunts.

But this bad karma isn’t a downer for the lady councilor. What evidently comes up next from her endorsed bid is both hushed and bare public reactions and opinions hovering about abandonment of people’s mandate. But maybe Mylene’s bid could come past after the November’s deadline of filing of certificates of candidacy. But what if there’s No-El (no election) given that bombs are exploding everywhere, and martial law is declared to perpetuate local incumbents (heavens forbid)? It’s not regretable anyway as a Daneco’s GMship too lasts until the holder returns to his/her Maker (no pun intended).

However, if Baura’s endorsement is really a City Hall’s gambit, then we’ll expect her to get further support from notable politicians like the Comval Gov. Arturo “Chiongkee” Uy, brother of the city mayor, and Davao del Norte Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario, in tandem with her uncle Vice Gov. Victorio “Baby” Suaybaguio. But maybe, it’s go Mylene, go! despite the precedents, since as sources from the Daneco board of directors say nobody and nobody can just be appointed and confirmed as Daneco GM by the superimposing (if not irritating) National Electrification Administration (NEA) without him or her being backed and lobbied by powerful politicians. I don’t know yet who among Baura, Laniba and other applicants has already the upperhand in this most important factor and key in capturing this perks-blessed Daneco GMship (email: chamonforte@yahoo.com)

Filed under: Agripino Coquilla, Alan Laniba, daneco, Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative, tagum city councilor mylene baura, Tristan Royce Aala, Agripino Coquilla, Alan Laniba, daneco, Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative, tagum city councilor mylene baura, Tristan Royce Aala