MANY employees are paid on the 15th and 30th of each month. It seems reasonable, therefore, that they should pay their indebtedness within 14 days of receiving their bills.
The Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) goes one step further and insists on payment within nine days. Is this reasonable? My household receives its Ceneco bill on the 18th of the month. This, apparently, has to be paid by the 27th.
Is this how a cooperative is supposed to work? After all, we are often subjected to brownouts. Did the member-consumer-owners approve of Ceneco’s payment schedule? Has the concept of a cooperative disappeared altogether?
Collection efficiency. What does this mean? To attain 95 percent efficiency does this high proportion have to pay its bill within the bossy and possibly unilaterally imposed nine day window?
Apparently, Ceneco’s management cannot adhere to its Collective Negotiation Agreement because the National Electrification Administration (NEA) insists on the 95 percent collection efficiency. Does NEA have this authority over Ceneco? If so, what is the role of Ceneco’s management?
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It was not always thus. Early in the last decade, Ceneco’s Board of Directors went on a frenetic activity in which a number of bilateral contracts to acquire electricity were signed. Around 2014 yet another contract was proposed. This time Ceneco’s General Manager Suplicio Lagarde demurred. Consequently, the Board fired Lagarde who immediately complained wrongful dismissal to the NEA. Eventually, NEA found in favor of Lagarde, Ceneco’s president together with six Board members had to reimburse Lagarde a total of P2.2 million.
NEA showed that there are limits to the authority of Ceneco’s Board.
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The well-publicized cyberheists in which hundreds of customers have lost money to fraudsters makes depressing reading.
Is our money safe in our banks? So far, only BDO and Landbank are reporting problems. Arrests have already been made.
I salute the Bankers Association of the Philippines. In a series of advertisements, #FightFraudTogether, it encourages customers to be assertive. ”Don’t Hesitate to Report a Problem With Your Account” and then tells us how we can contact the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
It is good that banks and their customers are working together. I hope that the banks will be transparent as to why their customers have been robbed.
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What we need is for the alleged bad guys to be brought to justice. I recall that the NBI did good work in clarifying what happened in the enormous Wirecard AG accounting fraud case. Are the wheels of justice turning? If so, when are we likely to see progress? It would be good to hear of the Philippines gaining ground as a place where the bad guys are caught and then quickly bought to justice.
Will this happen soon?/PN
