The National Electrification Administration (NEA) has designated one of its deputy administrators to oversee the management and operations of a struggling electric cooperative in Lanao del Sur.
NEA Administrator Edgardo Masongsong recently issued an office order appointing Atty. Vicar Loureen Lofranco as Project Supervisor for the Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative, Inc. (LASURECO), at the same time dissolving the Task Force Duterte Lanao Sur Power.
Lofranco is tasked to perform the functions of a regular board in the absence of the EC Board of Directors; supervise the management and operations of LASURECO.
“In the exigency of the service and pursuant to the approval of NEA Board of Administrators, Task Force Duterte Lanao Sur Power created under Office Order No. 2017-014 is hereby recalled,” NEA Office Order No. 2019-125 stated.
“Further, pursuant to Sections 4(e) and 5(a) of PD 269 as amended by Republic Act No. 10531, Atty. Vicar Loureen G. Lofranco is hereby designated as Project Supervisor of Lanao del Sur Electric Cooperative, Inc.,” the order added.
Lofranco is currently the Deputy Administrator for NEA Electric Cooperatives Management Services (ECMS). She also previously served as Acting Deputy Administrator for the agency’s Corporate Resources and Financial Services (CRFS).
As indicated in the NEA office order, Lofranco is tasked to perform the functions of a regular board in the absence of the EC Board of Directors; supervise the management and operations of LASURECO.
The deputy administrator is also mandated to countersign checks, withdrawal slips, and other banking transactions; and perform other tasks that may be assigned by the NEA for the purpose of operational efficiency.
To recall, LASURECO was placed under the management of Task Force Duterte Lanao Sur Power (TFD-LSP) in January 2017 in a move to revive and rehabilitate the power utility, as well as improve the electricity service to consumers in Lanao del Sur.
On May 07, 2018, Ms. Nordjiana L. Dipatuan-Ducol was appointed General Manager of LASURECO who had since instituted measures for reform, and manage the financial, institutional and technical operations of the electric cooperative.
But efforts to improve the operations of the power distribution utility have gone down the drain when the five-month long battle between the government forces and members of the Maute terror group erupted in Marawi City in May 2017. Yet, LASURECO relentlessly continued to provide the electricity service to the community now hoping to rise from the horrors of the war.