BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The power struggle saga of the Benguet Electric Cooperative (BENECO) has finally ended. 

The BENECO Interim Board of Directors (BOD), upon the recommendation of the National Electrification Administration (NEA), appointed Engineer Melchor Licoben as the general manager, ending the three-year battle that hogged national attention. 

“There was no other candidate, he was the number one choice as recommended by the NEA,” Steve Cating, interim BOD chairperson, said. 

Licoben was the assistant general manager (GM) when long-time BENECO GM Gerardo Versoza Jr. died in 2020 and was expected to be the successor. But then-Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Ana Maria Rafael joined the fray and in July 2021, the NEA board of directors approved her appointment as BENECO GM based on the legal opinion rendered by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC). 

The NEA move was opposed by the cooperative’s members-consumers-owners (MCOs) and majority of the BENECO employees and its board of directors. 

For a time, two BENECOs were vying for the consumers’ power payment. In January 2023, with the Duterte-appointed officials replaced, the NEA took over BENECO with a task force and revoked Rafael’s appointment. 

Licoben was also suspended for 45 days, and the BENECO board of directors was removed and replaced with an interim slate. 

“We are very proud to appoint him, and there is no question of his competence as a manager and as a resource person for BENECO going forward. We look forward to growing BENECO for the next 50 years as we renew our franchise,” said Cating. 

Licoben was also endorsed by the BENECO employees and supported by all the local government units in Baguio and Benguet.

In a statement, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong welcomed the appointment of Licoben as he urged everyone to “rally behind the legitimate BENECO leadership and allow the wounds of the past to naturally heal.”

“The appointment of GM Licoben puts an end to the leadership impasse that challenged BENECO these past years. It is our verdant desire that BENECO bounces back fully from temporary setback wrought by the crisis and retains its status as a power firm extraordinaire,” Magalong said. 

Magalong also gave credit to BENECO employees and MCOs for fighting for “a rightful leader in GM Licoben,” and urged the electric cooperative to work on providing cheap and reliable power to its customers and energizing remote villages in its franchise area. – Rappler.com