Powers station birthday gift to BBM
BATAC, Ilocos Norte – Officials of the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative have unveiled a new power sub-station that would bring more reliable electricity to the province’s southern section covering the developing towns of Batac and Paoay. The P25-million power sub-station, with a 10-MV capacity, was also offered as a birthday present to Ilocos Norte Governor Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., who had been at loggerheads with INEC for months. The presence of Marcos as keynote speaker in the affair could end months of controversy between the governor and INEC leaders. During the simple energization program, Marcos said he appreciates the move of INEC, considering that he is the one giving gifts when he celebrates his birthday. But that time, it was the other way around. Marcos nevertheless accepted the effort but stressed that the gift was not for himself but for the people who would be benefited by the power station. The governor congratulated all the INEC officials led by board President Lorenzo Rey Ruiz and General Manager Romillas C. Pascual. Marcos had publicly rebuked INEC officials for their supposed failure to speed up the return of some P102 million in power charges that were collected erroneously as a result of misapplication in the computation of power purchase adjustments. INEC officials have since argued that they have complied with the order of the Energy Regulation Commission to refund consumers. The ERC is still reviewing a rebate scheme that INEC submitted so that the amount that was over recovered would be returned to consumers in the form of cash payment or power discount before the year ends. “Although we had a rocky start, you have responded to the sentiments of the people,” Marcos, Jr. said in his speech before INEC officials and employees. The governor admitted that the issue on power overcharging was not specific to Ilocos Norte. “When I look at other provinces, either they don’t get a rebate or they get one that is too small,” he said. The sub-station was completed at a time when the Batac and Paoay towns are in the thick of development efforts. INEC Director Jeffrey Nalupta said the power station had long been a request of member-consumers in the area since there are times when they suffer power interruptions and low voltage situation. Meanwhile, Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Mariano V. Marcos II, who also present during the inauguration, also congratulated the INEC officials saying the new power station, which would directly benefit his constituents in the province’s second district, would help the economic development of the province. Marcos II, who was the prime mover of the INEC rebate issue, also lauded the INEC officials for their transparency as he stressed that whatever had happened between him and the cooperative was purely professional and never personal. Reacting to this, Ruiz thanked the Marcos cousins in behalf of the INEC board. Ruiz added that INEC took those criticisms constructively and served as a wake up call for them to further improve their services to the member-consumers. Pascual, for his part, expressed surprise to the praises heaped by the Marcos cousins on INEC as he mentioned that with those praises INEC would now become a better partner of the provincial government in terms of economic development. The sub-station is a rent-to-own scheme and it would be wholly owned by INEC in five years. Batac town is in the middle of its city hood conversion, which requires stable power with the entry of more economic activities. Paoay town, meanwhile, is the seat of a proposed P475-million hotel and conversion center that the provincial government will erect. The provincial government had signed a loan agreement with the Development Bank of the Philippines to shore up the center. Dominic B. dela Cruz and Cristina Arzadon
|
|