BALITA: Laniba wa gihapon mapahawa pagka Daneco OIC GM

Ni Cha Monforte

feb 14

Wa gihapon mahawa pagka officer-in-charge general manager (OIC GM) si Allan Laniba sa Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative kay nagkulang sa boto ang grupo sa mga director nga nagaoposar kaniya atol sa ilang miting kagahapong adlawa didto sa Daneco Tagum Office, syudad sa Tagum.
Sa boto nga 4-5 pabor kang Laniba nabasura ang resolution nga gisang-at ni director Miguel Fermil nga i-terminate ang designation ni Laniba isip OIC GM ug iimplementar ang rotation system sa pagka OIC GM samtang ang Daneco legal counsel Atty. Jess Albacite ug Laniba mirason nga siya ang National Electrification Administration (NEA) mihatag pa sa kaniya ug usa ka tuig nga probationary period pagka OIC GM o hangtod sa Abril 10, 2010.
Ang miboto sa pagpalagpot unta kang Laniba mao sila board director Fermil, Ananias Darjan Jr., ug Roman Calicdan, samtang ang wa misugot mao sila Dr. Antonio Sebumpan, MD, Eugenio Ramonida, Engr. Dan Gervacio, retired Col. Dominador Cruda ug Orlando Bugas. Mi-abstain sa botohay sila director Samuel Lacierda ug Dr. Roberto Alam, MD.
Si Alam gituohan unta nga moboto sa pagpalagpot apan sa katapusan mi-abstain siya, samtang naobserbahan nga si Lacierda naghilom-hilom panahon sa usa ka adlawa nga board meeting diin mituki sa Fermil isip katapusang adyenta sobra na alas 5:00 kagahapon sa hapon. Nagsugod ang makuting miting sa alas 9 sa buntag.
Ang grupo sa mga board directors tataw nga lakip na si board president Dean Briz kinsa tataw nga wa kaangay kang Laniba, tuod man usa sila nasupalpal sa botohay kabahin sa pagpalagpot ni Laniba, nakalampos sa pagpaaprubar sa usa ka board resolution sa pagreapirmar nga may igong mayorya na sa ilang naunang resolution nga may botong 6 nga “yes” ug 6 nga “no” nga ideklarar na nga ang Daneco GM nga posisyon isip abre ug bakante ngadto sa publiko ug gihangyo nga ipublisar na kini sa NEA sa usa ka mantalaan nga may national circulation sa gasto sa Daneco.
Niining maong resolution midaug ang grupo ni Darjan ug Fermil kinsa nakakuha ug 7 ka boto apil ang boto ni Lacierda ug Alam, samtang ang pro-Laniba nga mga director nakakuha lamang ug 5 ka boto.
Sa maong resolution gipaabot nga sa umaabot nga Abril 10, 2010 na mabakante ang GM nga posisyon aron pwede na kining aplayan sa tanang interesado gikan sa klase-klaseng parte sa nasud, apan mikomentaryo si Atty. Albacite nga sa pag-abot sa maong petsa “mohimo lamang ug ebalwasyon ang NEA” kung angayan ba gayod kini human sa iyang usa ka tuig nga probationary period, samtang ang hunta direktiba mokonpirmar usab sa desisyon sa NEA.
Human sa pagbotar sa maong resolution miapelar si Laniba nga dili unta nila apilan sa politika sa ilang pagbotar sa pagpalagpot kaniya kun dili basehan nila ang kaayuhan sa mga konsumante sa Daneco.
Mipagawas ug pag-alingasa si Darjan ug Briz usab kagahapon nga sa maong petsa usab automatic na nga mahimong permanente nga GM si Laniba.
Mirason si Darjan nga mitubag lang sila sa “gusto sa League of Mayors ug ubang grupo ug sektor” nga ibakante ang maong posisyon aron aplayan sa tanang kwalipikado nga aplikante.
Niadtong Enero 23 unang gitestingan na sa grupo ni Briz nga pulihan si Laniba sa ilang gipili nga si Engr. Nelson Balangan, ang technical department head, kinsa mikakak nga dili niya makaya ang paghupot sa pinakataas nga posisyon sa management sa Daneco kay matud niya dili siya makamao sa accounting.

Filed under: daneco board of directors, Miguel Fermil, Allan Laniba, daneco, Dr. Antonio Sebumpan, Engr. Dan Gervacio, Engr. Nelson Balangan, Eugenio Ramonida, Miguel Fermil, Orlando Bugas, retired Col. Dominador Cruda, roman calicdan

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: After failed ouster bid by Daneco prexy, OIC GM says “employees are united to protect Daneco”

By Cha Monforte

jan 27

Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative OIC general manager Allan Laniba said that the failed ouster bid against him initiated by several members of the board of directors on Saturday “probably affected the employees emotionally. But we (employees) are united to protect Daneco”.

Laniba survived the ouster bid led by board president Dean Briz in Saturday’s special and regular meeting of the board of directors held at Daneco office in Tagum City following lengthy deliberations that saw the chickening out of the sought replacement who also attended the meeting.

In that meeting, Briz was actively supported by director Miguel Fermil and board treasurer Ananias Darjan Jr.

Fermil filed a resolution seeking to replace Laniba with Daneco’s technical department head Engr. Nelson Balangan, who ironically backed out from accepting the offer when he was grilled by directors supporting Laniba.

Darjan, on the other hand, tried to present the list of alleged deficiencies of the current management.

Briz and Darjan are also current city budget officer and general services office head of the Tagum city government, respectively. The two are known protégés of Mayor Rey Uy.

Briz was sought for comment yesterday but he referred the local media to Darjan.

Darjan, in an interview, said that the discussion on Laniba’s replacement and on alleged deficiencies dragged lengthily saying that they only wanted “to satisfy all avenues of discussions” and that they were not “exercising tyranny of numbers” suggesting that Briz group has already the majority in the board.

“All were allowed to express their views and opinions,” he added.

Darjan also belied allegation that he and Briz as city government employees are acting under the direction of Mayor Uy.

He said that Mayor Uy and Compostela Governor Arturo Uy have no personal or family business agenda in Daneco such as the peddled allegation that they wanted to destroy Daneco to privatize it, adding that what they only wanted was to straighten things in Daneco that need to be corrected for it to serve best the public and the power consumers.

Fermil’s resolution was subsequently deferred for further discussion and put in unfinished business. It would be tackled in the next board meeting on February 13.

On the other hand, Laniba also said yesterday in a text message that he did not know the circumstances that led to the attempt to unseat him as present OIC GM of the power cooperative.

But a report published by the Periodico Tagum, sister Bisayan publication of this paper, said that the meeting attended by all the 11 directors with department managers and some members of the local media as observers opened with the rendering of accomplishment report by Laniba.

But after Laniba’s turn Briz surprisingly moved to make the meeting a closed door one and advised the department heads and mediamen to go out from the board room.

As they did not heed Briz order and instead remained to their seats, Fermil then filed his resolution triggering opposition and interpellation from directors  Orlando Bugas, Eugenio Ramonida, Engr. Dan Gervacio, retired Col. Dominador Cruda and former board president Dr. Antonio Sebumpan, who were supporting Laniba.

Laniba, in an interview yesterday afternoon, said that he was contemplating to voluntarily request the National Electrification Administration to make the GM seat vacant “to preserve unity and solidarity in Daneco”.

Streamers from employees are ostensible in the premises of Daneco Tagum office declaring support for the permanent GM bid of Laniba. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News)

Filed under: Dominador Cruda, Dr. Antonio Sebumpan, Engr. Dan Gervacio, Engr. Nelson Balangan, Eugenio Ramonida, Miguel Fermil, Orlando Bugas, Allan Laniba, Ananias Darjan Jr., Dean Briz, Dominador Cruda, Dr. Antonio Sebumpan, Engr. Dan Gervacio, Engr. Nelson Balangan, Eugenio Ramonida, Miguel Fermil, Orlando Bugas