“Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, near the dwelling of the righteous;
do not destroy his resting place.
For though a righteous man may fall seven times, he still gets up;
but the wicked stumble in bad times.”
You cannot keep a good man down.
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.
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 cross hairs of these profit-oriented entities.
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 truth is, he could have retired after his very productive term at the House of Representatives and accepted a peaceful job as a resource person to civil society groups or international organizations. But because he is a man of vision, a man who does not rest when he thinks he can still offer something to the people, he took the challenge of being in the executive branch… in an agency at the center of his lifelong advocacy of bringing social equitability through rural electrification.
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.
But character assassination of ERM by those people who represents the interests of the greedy is quite inevitable. What surprised us is not this attempt to remove ERM from office. What was really ridiculous is it happened at a time when all forms of official and state reports of corruption from so many agencies were produced and submitted by the Commission of Audit and are even being investigated by Congress through their own respective Blue Ribbon Committees.
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.
The One EC-MCO movement would not be where it is today without the heart and wisdom of ERM. He is a visionary leader who was able to inspire us with his unwavering passion for rural electrification and people empowerment. WITH or WITHOUT an official government position, we know that ERM will be a significant piece of the success of the Rural Electrification Movement.
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.
We will never turn our back against a public servant with incorruptible spirit! We will stand our ground to protect the gains of rural electrification of which he is a very important part of.
MABUHAY KA, ADMINISTRATOR EDGARDO RAMA MASONGSONG!
KAISA MO KAMI!