Civil society group slams NEA bill

MANILA, Philippines — A civil society group on Thursday backed legislators who voted against a measure which sought to grant the National Electrification Administration authority to regulate electric cooperatives.

Federation of Peoples’ Sustainable Development Cooperative (FPSDC), made up of over a hundred concerned electric cooperatives in the country, called House Bill 6214 a “disempowering bill” and accused legislators of hastily passing it on third and final reading Wednesday night.

HB 6214 is otherwise known as “An Act Strengthening The National Electrification Administration Further Amending For The Purpose Presidential Decree No. 269, As Amended, Otherwise Known As The “National Electrification Administration Decree” was approved on third and final reading on Wednesday. There were 148 lawmakers who voted for its passage and four who voted against it.

The FPSDC said that HB 6214, which they dubbed the “A Bad Bill” from the name of its sponsor at plenary deliberations – Batanes Representative Henedina Abad -, “made a mockery of electric cooperatives.”

In a statement, the group said that the HB 6214, popularly known as the NEA Bill, violated the Constitution since it “tramples upon the constitutionally-guaranteed rights of peoples organizations to social justice and human rights.

It added that the measure was “anti-consumer” since it “disrupts if not prohibits the conversion of our electric cooperatives into a genuinely member-consumer-owned cooperatives.”

HB 6214 was also “anti-cooperative,” the group added, pointing out its disregard for “internationally accepted principles of cooperativism and negates the gains of Republic Act 9520.”

Association of Philippine Electric Cooperative (Apec) Representative Ponciano Payuyo accused majority of the lawmakers on the floor Wednesday night of “bullying” those who were against HB 6214.

But Abad, chairperson of the House committee on energy, pointed out that they had given opponents ample time to air their issues against the bill.

She said partylist groups representing electric cooperatives at the lower chamber of the 15th Congress had tried to oppose HB 6214 by accusing the measure of “going against freedom of self-organization.”

“Although they have the right to block it and we respect that, at one point when the electric cooperative groups are not functioning and performing well, the government has to intervene and supervise,” the legislator told INQUIRER.net over a phone interview.

Abad said that it was wrong for opponents of HB 6214 to accuse it of providing the NEA “dictatorial powers” over electric cooperatives. “These organizations provide public service to the people and should be regulated by the government.”

She urged electric cooperatives to cooperate with NEA, reasoning out to them that they should not view the agency as an enemy since it was being tasked to assist them in providing public service.

Akbayan Representative Walden Bello, one of the four congressmen who voted against the approval of the bill, however said that HB 6214 would make “electric coops virtual adjuncts of the highly Marcos era agency, the NEA.”

“It abolishes their relative autonomy, and this is dangerous,” warned the legislator.

From the House of Representatives, the FPSDC said that it was prepared to take its issues on the NEA Bill to the Senate but aired fears that they were less likely to be heard on new battleground.

Payuyo lamented that when he tried to speak with the Senate’s committee on energy, only Senator Loren Legarda responded.

The bill, if enacted into a law, will also set qualifications for officers of electric cooperatives.

“We understand their fear of government regulation but it is necessary. It must be done,” said Abad.