By Bong D. Fabe | Correspondent
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—It’s official! After years of planning and strategizing, a federation of cooperatives in Mindanao has officially signified its intention to acquire, operate and manage the Agus-Pulangi Hydro-Electric Power Plant (Agus-Pulangi HEPP).
1Mindanao Energy Cooperative (1Miecoop) Federation Chairman Glicerio Tan and Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Orlando R. Ravanera officially turned over to former Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla 1Miecoop’s certificate of registration to prove that it is a duly accredited juridical entity which has the personality to enter into contracts with the government, among others.
“After the [Mindanao Cooperative Power] Summit, select cooperative leaders will go to Malacañang to officially and formally turn over the cooperatives’ bid to President Aquino,” said Ben Cyrus Ellorin, CDA spokesman.
Ellorin, a former journalist who was appointed chief of staff of the CDA chairman after the former’s appointment to the post in March, said the Mindanao cooperatives’ move to bid for the Agus-Pulangi HEPP has the support and backing of billionaire cooperatives in the Visayas and Luzon.
“More than 3,000 cooperative members from all over the country have gathered here and we have representatives of billionaire cooperatives from the Visayas and Luzon islands signifying their intention to join the 1Miecoop,” he added.
1Miecoop will raise the needed capital of P3.6 billion in one year to acquire, operate and manage the Agus-Pulangi HEPP by collecting P100 a month for one year from every member of cooperatives that have joined 1Miecoop, which has more than 3 million members, Tan said.
The Agus-Pulangi HEPP supplies Mindanao with more than 50 percent of its power requirement.
The bid for the Agus-Pulangi HEPP is in accordance with the cooperatives’ mandate of promoting the equitable distribution of wealth, primarily to the electricity consumers of Mindanao and serve as a socioeconomic model that would spur inclusive growth and development in Mindanao and will give real life to the meaning of transformative cooperative development, Tan said.
1Miecoop can even raise the stake higher with billionaire cooperative throughout the country, shelling out bigger capital contribution, Ellorin added.
1Miecoop’s bid to “acquire, operate and manage Agus-Pulangi hydropower complex is not as a capitalist venture representing a financial interest.”
Pete Ilagan, president of the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reform (Nasecore), said the cooperative option is the better option to privatization.
“Lamentably though, privatization has also unreasonably increased the cost of basic services beyond consumer affordability, allowing the accumulation of enormous private profits. But there is a better way to privatization: cooperativization. Yes, the cooperative way, meaning, cooperatives bidding for government assets and undertaking public infrastructure projects,” Ilagan said.
Ellorin pointed out that it is high time that the people, through cooperatives, control the power sector as this is the only way to help the sector mitigate climate change.
“This model, power consumers themselves controlling the power sector, is successfully being done in Europe, the Americas and Canada. If this is being done with success in other parts of the world, there is no reason this cannot be successfully done here in the Philippines,” he said.
(With Butch Enerio)