Akelco operations manager breaks silence on removal case

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

The beleaguered operations manager of Aklan Electric Cooperative (Akelco) breaks silence for his abrupt removal from office.

Mathew Rodson Mayor, Jr. described the actions of Akelco board of directors as “callous, malicious, arrogance and grave abuse of authority and discretion in wanton disregard of his rights to due process” in his letter to Akelco board president Wayne Malilay on July 23.

Mayor said he will continue to work in Akelco until the National Electrification Administration (NEA) resolves the issue despite the board resolution dismissing him.

Akelco board issued Resolution No. 085 series of 2015-07-20 on July 20 for grave misconduct and grave neglect of duty disqualifying him for any reemployment in the electric cooperative in the future.

Mayor said the decision of the Akelco board is not immediately executory, citing, the Revised NEA Administrative Rules of Procedure of 2013 (Revised NEA Admin Rules).

This is shown in Section 1 paragraph 4 of Rule III that states “if the case is against a General Manager or other officers of an electric cooperative, the complainant shall have the option to file the complaint with the Board of Directors of said EC, whose decision is subject to approval by NEA on automatic review, or directly with the Administrative Committee.”

Mayor said the NEA Offices of the Deputy Administrator for Electric Distribution Utilities Services and acting Deputy Administrator for Legal Services have knowledge of his case as shown by NEA letter to him on July 6, 2015. 

ATTEMPTS TO DISMISS MAYOR

Mayor said attempts to dismiss him started last year when the Akelco board issued a memorandum on June 23, 2014 regarding his educational qualifications for the position as Commercial Operations Department (COD) manager.

A year after or on  June 24, 2015, acting general manager Akelco Pedro Nalangan, IV also issued a memorandum of offense and show cause based on Akelco board resolution No. 076 series of 2015-06-01 requiring Mayor and three sub-office Akelco area managers to submit their written explanations or comments.

The latest resolution asked them why they should not be held administratively liable for grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty regarding the unpaid electric bills and failure to enforce the collection of past due bills of Ma. Bettina Garcia.

Mayor, in his letter to NEA administrator Edita Bueno on July 1, 2015, asserted that those actions of Akelco board are “tantamount to harassment as a prelude to constructive dismissal as part of the unending personal quests of some Akelco board of directors to prosecute him.”

Mayor also insisted that the Akelco board denied him of due process in the administrative proceedings.

Adding inequality in their decision, the Akelco board issued an omnibus resolution No. 086 series of 2015-07-20 reprimanding with stern warning the three sub-office area managers that “they should exercise due diligence and prudence to manage the cooperative accounts receivable from the delinquent consumers.”

POLITICS BEHIND CHARGES?

Politics may be behind the moves to slap Mayor of an administrative case before the Akelco board and his subsequent removal from office as commercial operations manager.

It was revealed that Akelco board of director Rodrigo Quimpo has an axe to grind against Mayor after he allegedly supported the candidacy of the former’s opponent in the Akelco district election for Kalibo and Numancia.

Mayor, who hails from Altavas, Aklan, is the son of Sangguniang Panlalawigan member and opposition stalwart Rodson Mayor.

In a radio interview on Saturday, SP member Mayor confirmed that Akelco board of director Atty. Ariel Gepty is also facing a disbarment complaint filed by a resident of Altavas, Aklan before the Supreme Court.

The elder Mayor said some board of directors were gravely misguided in the deliberate attempt to oust his son in Akelco.

  

NEA INTERVENTION

Mayor said his camp will file also next week an administrative complaint before the NEA against the cooperative’s board of directors.

P.D. No. 269, as amended by P.D. No. 1645, vested NEA with the authority to supervise and control electric cooperatives. In the exercise of its authority, it has the power to conduct investigations and other similar actions in all matters affecting electric cooperatives.