LA TRINIDAD, Benguet: The Benguet Electric Cooperative (Beneco) favors the appointment of four additional members of its board of directors (BOD) subject to the approval of the National Electrification Administration, according to Gerado Versoza, general manager of the said cooperative.

Verzoza was referring to a letter dated on August 8, 2012 sent to the office of Mayor Mauricio Domogan of Baguio City and forwarded to the office of City Councilor Nicasio Aliping Jr., chairperson of the Committee on Public Utilities, Transportation and Traffic Legislation of the city council, from the Blessed Association of Retired Persons Foundation Inc. (BARP) and the BARP Multi-Purpose Cooperative.

The letter requested that the city “send a similar resolution to strengthen our mutual position calling for the inclusion of four independent members to the present elected Beneco board of 11, thus making the board 15 in membership.”

The BARP resolution was unanimously approved on August 1, 2012.

Versoza said that the inclusion of four more board members “will enhance more the public and stake holder participation affairs of the cooperative.”

Versoza added, “the clamor for transparency will be likewise addressed and the same shale hopefully silence the often repeated complain by BARP, Nasecor (National Association of Electricity Consumer for Reforms Inc.), Mr. Bial Palaez and Councilor Fred Bagbagen.”

“The presence of independent directors will improve the quality of membership in the Board since NEA will have to consider someone with sufficient technical and financial background as well as actual working experience or working knowledge related to the power industry,” Versoza opined.

According to him, the move is similarly observed in private corporations registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission where independent directors are appointed to represent the interest of the minority shareholders.

Versoza added, “The presence of such directors provide a built-in check and balance mechanism within the Beneco board.”

“The appointment of independent directors will cure the innate defect in electing members of the board which is the lack of mass base representation,” he added.

Records show that for the past five years (2005-2011), only 11 percent or about 5,336 voted out of the 47,846 consumer-members during the district elections in Baguio City; and 37 percent or about 19,851 consumers during the district elections in Benguet.

The figures, Versoza said, indicates that only 24% of Beneco’s member-consumers have gone out to join the election of the board of directors.

The appointment of qualified and competent independent directors will address the vacuum in terms of adequate representation of various sectors among consumer-members as a result of the present system of choosing BOD members, he said.

According to him, the independent directors will help insulate the board from traditional politics.

This move, he said, will also serve as an experiment on the part of NEA to possibly address the observation of Energy Sec. Jose Almendras that the BODs of electric cooperatives appears to be the weakest component in the business.

Almendras, likewise, said that generally, board members who lack sufficient understanding and competence in sustaining financial and technical operations of an electric cooperative have substantially caused electric cooperatives to become bankrupt and inefficient.