Why was then outgoing Noreco 2 general manager Ephraim Taclob in a hurry to pay a Chinese supplier Php 52 million last December when only 266 out of the 5,564 steel poles had been delivered to the cooperative?
This is the question that is nagging Vice Mayor Alan Gel Cordova and the other members of the Dumaguete City Council when they said they will investigate the deal, which caused serious financial problems for the electric cooperative.
The steel electric poles were ordered by the Noreco 2 in August of 2008 from the Chinese supplier Su Mai International, Inc. The deal was for Noreco 2 to pay the amount in installments until the year 2015, when all the poles shall have been delivered.
NORECO II paid a down payment of 20 percent of the contract amount with the balance spread out until 2015.
However, instead of issuing post-dated checks for the next three remaining years, then GM Taclob ordered the full payment of the electric posts just before he retired from office last December.
The Noreco 2 also paid an additional amount of P3.8 million to transport 266 poles from Cebu to Dumaguete. Vice Mayor Cordova said the poles could have been delivered to Dumaguete without incurring an additional delivery charge.
Cordova said consumers of NORECO II should be concerned over this as they are the ones who will shoulder any flawed transaction entered into by the cooperative.
Meanwhile, the NORECO 2 vehemently denied insinuations of anomalous transactions in the importation of P52 million worth of concrete electric poles from China.
Noreco II acting general manager Dionefred Macahig said that all transactions were above board and went through the correct procedures.
Macahig, however, admitted the importation was accelerated instead of the scheduled payment of up to seven years from 2008 to 2015. The process has saved the cooperative more than P4.88 million in interest, he said.
According to Macahig, there were two amendments on the contract between Sumai International Inc., supplier of the concrete poles after the first contract was signed in April 2008.
It was stipulated in the first contract that the port of entry for the imported poles is the port of Dumaguete, but due to negotiations for the escalation costs, and the acquisition of the Certificate of Good Standing from the Cooperative Development Authority CDA, Noreco II had to directly make the importation, thus the shipment of 266 poles was delivered to the port of Cebu last year, with an additional coast of P3.8 million.
Following this development, an amended contract was approved by the Board of Directors in December 2010, and that henceforth, the importation be delivered to the port of Dumaguete, he said.
Macahig said that Noreco II has fully paid the contracted amount, including the interest amounting to P6,180,000.00.
However, since payment was accelerated for eight months, it wanted to recover the corresponding interest for the remaining years, which the cooperative was supposed to pay.
A second amendment was made in January this year to recover the amount of P4,883,000.00, Macahig pointed out.
He said that of the 5,564 concrete poles, 266 were delivered in 2011, and 4,628 pieces will be arriving next month after receiving a packing list from the supplier while the remaining 710 is due for next shipment.
For his part, Board chair James Fontelo enjoined members of the city council to visit the NORECO II office should they want additional answers to their query.
Fontelo said the issue has been thoroughly discussed several months ago, and even during the recent general assembly.
He said this has happened before when members of Congress came over to conduct a congressional inquiry and the cooperative spent a lot of money for their fares and expenses in going to Manila, only to find out that the accusers cannot prove their allegations. (PNA)
