Tunga, Leyte – “Member-consumers are the real owners of an electric cooperative and, as owners, they should be involved in the coop, be well-informed and most especially be empowered,” General Manager Allan Lamparaz Laniba of LEYECO III emphasized during the plenary session of the Advocacy Conference of Member-Consumers-Owner held at LEYECO III Employees Hall on February 17, 2017.

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About 158 member-consumers coming from the 285 barangays of Leyeco III’s coverage area attended the said advocacy conference.  The conference was held in support of the National Electrification Administration’s strategic initiative of empowering the Member-Consumer-Owners of Electric Cooperatives in line with the government’s thrust to improve the quality of life of the Filipinos. The plenary tackled the 5-point agenda of President Duterte consisting of the following: 1. Access to Electricity for All;  2. Power Availability at all times; 3. Power Reliability; 4. System Efficiency; and 5. Cheap Electricity Rate. GM Laniba also touched on the 8-point agenda of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the 7 point agenda of the National Electrification Administration (NEA). The last topic of the plenary was about Federalism, which topic was included to enable the member-consumers to be informed of the issue which will greatly affect the Coop if ever Federalism comes about.The focal purpose of the Advocacy Conference was the organization of the  LEYECO III electric consumers at the grassroots level.  

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“Other electric cooperatives are afraid to organize the member-consumers, but we are not. For we know that you as an owner of the cooperative will play a big role in the achievement of our goals. For you will serve as our eyes and ears in your respective areas, I will give you access to my personal number so that you will personally inform me on what problems we need to address in your area so that we can provide the best public service up to the grassroots level,” GM Laniba elaborated to the consumers during the plenary.

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            The conference ended with an election of officers of the organization dubbed as the League of Electric Consumers Advocacy for Reforms and Empowerment of the Society (LeCares).  Each of the nine (9) municipalities under the franchise area of LEYECO III organized themselves and elected their respective set of officers.  Subsequently, all the newly elected Presidents from the nine municipalities  likewise organized to form the LeCAREs Federation set of officers. Mr. Gaspar MIsagal, a member-consumer from Capoocan was elected as the President of the federation, while  Romelo Antoni from Alangalang was elected as Vice President, Jocelyn Yu as Secretary-General, and Eufemia Petiluna, Rhonel Agosto, Letecia Agas, Samuel Salomon, Conchita Bais, and Edwin John Adlawan as Board Members. The officers were inducted by the NEA Representative to the Board Atty. Edgar Tonolete.

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The conference ended with the submission by the electric consumer of their membership forms for the National Center of Electric Cooperative Consumers, Inc. (NCECCO), an organization formed by the electric consumers themselves.