Albayanos slam Rep. Loria’s move to reprivatize ALECO

By Manuel T. Ugalde

LEGAZPI CITY — Albayanos have criticized neophyte Albay Congressman Carlos Loria for his solo efforts to push for the reprivatization of the Albay Electric Cooperative (ALECO), recalling the province’s dismal power service experience during the eight years it was managed by the San Miguel Corporation (SMC) through the Albay Power and Energy Corporation (APEC).

SMC created APEC to operate and rehabilitate ALECO under a 25-year concession. However, the SMC-APEC control ended in 2022 following an ALECO consumers’ assembly convened by then newly elected Governor Noel Rosal. The assembly overwhelmingly demanded the termination of the APEC concession, leading to ALECO’s return to its original cooperative status.

Despite strong opposition from the ALECO Employees Union, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) had earlier placed ALECO under a concession agreement with SMC-APEC, which won the bid among five major applicants for privatization. APEC officials initially promised improved power services for ALECO’s more than 240,000 consumers, but the eight-year experience under SMC management turned out worse than before.

Both NEA and then-Governor Joey Sarte Salceda had previously described ALECO as a “problem cooperative,” citing corruption and debts amounting to ₱3 billion owed to power suppliers. However, when SMC exited in 2022, ALECO’s debts had ballooned to almost ₱12 billion, according to Governor Rosal.

Professor Virgilio Perdigon, secretary of the ALECO Members-Consumers Owners Alliance (AMCO), recalled that their group had strongly opposed the privatization of ALECO. AMCO had proposed a “coop-to-coop” partnership with the Baguio Electric Cooperative (BENECO) as a more sustainable rehabilitation model. However, the NEA rejected the proposal, as most Albay lawmakers and local officials—led by Governor Salceda and then-Legazpi Mayor Rosal—supported privatization.

AMCO president Rey Rosin reiterated that their coop-to-coop proposal remains the best alternative for ALECO’s rehabilitation, noting that even the Regional Development Council (RDC), then chaired by Governor Salceda, had considered it as an option.

AMCO has since lambasted Congressman Loria for his unconsulted proposal to place ALECO again under private control—this time under Meralco. Governor Rosal, 3rd District Representative Adrian Salceda, and 1st District Representative Krisel Lagman-Luistro all expressed opposition to Loria’s plan, saying any move toward reprivatization should be carefully studied in light of the failed SMC experiment.

Congressman Loria admitted that he had approached Meralco to discuss ALECO’s financial woes, citing that its rehabilitation is being hampered by heavy debts to power suppliers.

Meanwhile, Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Alfredo Garbin said AKB, in coordination with NEA, has secured sufficient funding for ALECO’s rehabilitation. Former congressman Joey Salceda also noted that ALECO’s rehabilitation efforts under AKB’s initiative are slowly showing improvements with NEA’s support.

It may be recalled that shortly after Noel Rosal’s election as governor in 2022, he called for an ALECO members’ assembly to address APEC’s erratic operations, which led to a strong demand to terminate San Miguel Corporation’s concession over ALECO.