Heads roll as Salas rehabs 3 losing P’panga power co-ops

MABALACAT, Pampanga — Heads have started to roll in the three merged electric cooperatives in this province as former New People’s Army chief Rodolfo Salas enforces his 100-day mandate from the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to "rescue and rehabilitate" the heavily losing firms.

Salas was appointed head of the executive committee which took over the management and operations of the merged Pampanga Electric Cooperatives (Pelcos) 1, 2 and 3 last Oct. 17.

He said he will seek today the ouster of a Pelco 2 director after an inspection revealed that he has been using "jumpers" in his residential compound here. Appropriate charges will be filed against the official, he added.

Salas, meanwhile, was able to persuade Mabalacat Mayor Marino Morales to settle, on installment basis, some P10 million in arrears which the municipal government has owed Pelco 2 since 1995.

The former general managers and board directors of Pelcos 1, 2 and 3 have been retained as "consultants" but without any power.

Salas said no one would be exempt from his efforts to collect arrears and purge those found involved in anomalies.

Earlier, a mayor was reported to have approached President Arroyo to seek her intervention against Salas’ demand for his municipality to pay its overdue power obligations, but was allegedly told by the President to pay the arrears.

In the case of the Pelco 2 director, Salas said he personally saw "jumpers" or devices that prevent electric consumption from being recorded by power meters for billing, at the former’s residential compound.

When he took over, Salas found out that the three cooperatives have had receivables amounting to some P360 million which, he said, was more than enough to pay their arrears with the National Power Corp. (Napocor). Pelco 2 alone has over P160 million in arrears.

The Napocor earlier had warned that it would cut off power to Mabalacat and six other towns covered by Pelco 2 if the electric cooperative was unable to pay an initial P49 million.

Salas negotiated an extension of the payment deadline.