Bacolod Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson yesterday said the city may get its power supply for the new government center directly from the National Power Corp. if its application for electric connection is denied by the Central Negros Electric Cooperative.

Sayson was reacting to statements issued by newly elected CENECO directors Edward Gasambelo and Vicente Sabornay that they might vote against granting power supply to the Bacolod City Government Center, unless the city settles its unpaid electric bills with the cooperative.

They are yet to sit officially as CENECO directors on June 21 but it is unfortunate that they are already announcing their intention to oppose the application of the city for electric connection to the government center, Sayson said. They should be careful about issuing such statements as they could give the wrong signals to potential investors in the city, he said.

Sabornay said “This is nothing personal. But as a newly elected director of CENECO, I might vote against granting power connection to the government center unless the city negotiate and settle its account with CENECO.”

If the city is for the interest of the public, it must pay its long standing, overdue account with CENECO, Sabornay. “If we are for public interest, let’s work and resolve this obligation,” he said.

Sabornay said that during his term as City Legal Officer the account of the city with CENECO was not more than P100 million. During the Valdez administration they tried to update the payment of the city’s current billing and pay the balance partially, he said.

He said that because he wants to face the problem, he went to court and filed an injunction case to prevent CENECO from cutting off the electric power of City Hall so they can settle the issue on the franchise taxes and electric bills.

CITY PAYMENTS

Meanwhile, Sayson said the city has started paying its current electric bills with CENECO, adding that he signed the documents when he took over as acting mayor.

Assistant City Legal Officer Gliceria Caduhada said the city is paying CENECO its current billing as of March 2008 amounting to about P1 million.

TAXES VS. BILLS

Sayson said there is also an ongoing negotiation between the city and CENECO to resolve the impasse concerning CENECO’s unpaid franchise taxes to the city, and the city’s unpaid electric bills to CENECO.

City Legal Officer Allan Zamora said that, based on the records of the city as of May 2006, CENECO had total unpaid franchise taxes amounting to P166,095,619.13, while the city has unpaid electric bills with CENECO amounting to P141,654,059.13 as of December 2007.

SUPREME COURT DECISION

He said CENECO did not pay its franchises taxes to the city pending the resolution of a case filed by the electric cooperatives with the Supreme Court. The electric cooperatives said they will only pay once the Court renders a decision, he added.

The Supreme Court later issued a decision denying the claims of the electric cooperatives for exemption from payment of franchise taxes to the local government, Zamora said.

As a result, the city and CENECO agreed to designate members of their committees to discuss the issues involving the franchise taxes and electric bills, he said. Until now the matter has not yet been decided because there is a question about how much CENECO really owes the city, he added.

NAPOCOR EYED

However, Zamora said he recommended to the Mayor that the city pay its current electric billing with CENECO so its account will not exceed the franchise taxes CENECO owes the city. 

He said the city has other options if denied power connection by CENECO, like getting power directly from NAPOCOR provided it complies with certain conditions. He cited that the Province of Iloilo and the Distileria de Bago Inc. that get their power directly from NAPOCOR. This will be more advantageous to the city since it will not be charged the additional charges imposed by CENECO to its consumers, Zamora also said.*CGS

back to top