The Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association Inc. (PHILRECA), an association of 121 rural electric cooperatives nationwide has expressed its support for former National Electrification Agency (NEA) administrator Edgardo Masongsong after he was removed from his post by President Rodrigo Duterte for alleged corruption.
“Reports of President Duterte’s removal of NEA Administrator Edgardo R. Masongsong (ERM) from office allegedly because of graft and corruption surprised many of us in the rural electrification sector, but not because we did not expect this would happen to him. Beginning with his appointment in office in 2016, he has already been a target of these kinds of attacks because some people have their own vested interest in the office that was given for him to manage and supervise,” PHILRECA said in a statement.
PHILRECA also stressed that as NEA administrator, the COA did not find any findings of mismanaged or questionable funds.
“We are also aware of many interests of capitalists and oligarchs on taking over the franchises of electric cooperatives, and knowing that ERM is one of the leaders of the rural electrification movement who prevents such encroachment to happen, he along with other advocates has always been at the crosshairs of these profit-oriented entities,” PHILRECA added.
According to PHILRECA, Masongsong has been the frequent target of character assassination and “corrupted politics.”
“Year in and year out, they have been filing different cases that malign the Administrator. From being accused of spending the people’s money for selfish interests, to “bending the law“ to make special accommodations to some group of people. He had been a victim – and still is – of the unscrupulous and corrupted politics when all he wanted to do is serve the people to the best of his abilities, even to the detriment of risking his reputation,” the group said in its statement.
PHILRECA also stressed that as NEA administrator, the COA did not find any findings of mismanaged or questionable funds.
“In his entire tenure in the National Electrification Administration, there had been no instances when the State Auditor, the Commission on Audit, has found any findings of mismanaged or questionable funds. In fact, the Agency was even able to contribute significantly to the country’s fight against Covid-19 Virus when it returned part of its budget to the National Treasury in 2020. NEA, during ERM’s time, even received the highest audit rating from COA twice, evidence of his efforts towards transparency in the agency’s financial operations,” PHILRECA said.
“The funny thing is that we have an agency like the National Electrification Administration which was never flagged by the COA for any financial misgivings and we have so many other agencies who have been flagged for billions of pesos of questionable spending. What we can say is that understanding what has happened does not require a degree in rocket science,” PHILRECA added.
The President said it was the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) that conducted the investigation and recommended that Masongsong be removed from office.
PHILRECA added that Masongsong has yet to be officially informed of his termination from office as it stressed that it remains supportive of the former NEA administrator.
“As of this moment, what we know is that the Administrator has not received any official communication of the President’s pronouncement. But the truth is: our Association could not care less. The entire 121 electric cooperatives has and will remain behind the unquestionable integrity and honor of Administrator Edgardo Rama Masongsong. The announcement to remove him from office – whether this will translate to an official order or not – will only strengthen our resolve to unite and become a stronger and more powerful group not just in the energy industry, but in the entire society,” PHILRECA said.
President Duterte announced Masongsong’s termination in a taped speech aired Saturday.
“We’ve been talking about corruption. Alam mo may bago akong, the name is Edgardo Masongsong. He’s the administrator of the National Electrification Administration. I dismissed him from public service,” Duterte said.
The President said it was the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) that conducted the investigation and recommended that Masongsong be removed from office.
“[The] PACC conducted the investigation and made the recommendation for his dismissal. I have approved.”
Duterte said this is proof that they are trying to stop corruption throughout the bureaucracy.
“I’m sorry but I said people are very skeptic about our desire to improve government service. We do not claim to maybe really totally clean government at this time not even with another president,” Duterte said.
The PACC earlier filed a case against Masongsong for supposedly allowing electric cooperatives to contribute funds for a party-list’s campaign in 2019.
