AKELCO BANKRUPT? * Audit shows shaky finances * NBI help sought in corruption probe KALIBO, Aklan – Aklan Electric Cooperative (Akelco) is financially hemorrhaging and this “may cast significant doubt on the cooperative’s ability to continue…,” revealed external auditor Balicas, Lamboso & Co. The electric cooperative “has accumulated losses of P706 million in 2012 and P752 million in 2011,” the accounting firm’s audit report showed. Akelco itself hired Balicas, Lamboso & Co. to conduct the audit. The present financial “condition of the cooperative indicates the existence of material uncertainty,” the auditing firm stated in its March 8, 2013 audit report. Sources at Akelco claimed of massive graft and corruption in the electric cooperative, and that officials and members of the Board of Directors may have knowledge of them. In a confidential letter addressed to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), a concerned citizen requested a thorough “investigation on the alleged unexplained wealth of Chito Peralta, general manager of Akelco.” The letter writer told the NBI that Peralta “accumulated a fleet of 10 cars, including a Toyota Fortuner, a Mitshubishi, Jeep Grand Cherokee and other luxury cars.” “He is presently constructing a hotel worth P26 million in Andagao, Kalibo, Aklan,” the letter sender told NBI. Panay News tried to contact Peralta but he could not be reached as of press time. But in a recent press conference, Peralta denied Akelco was suffering from financial losses. “We fear that we may go the way of the Albay Electric Cooperative (ALECO) which last week was disconnected from its electricity supply because of unpaid electric bills,” wrote the letter sender. The letter to the NBI was dated August 5, 2013. The present financial condition of the power cooperative is “an injustice to Akelco member-consumers who religiously pay their power bills,” wrote the sender. The letter lamented the “mismanagement, inefficiency and corruption” at Akelco. An accountant who asked for anonymity said an external auditor is usually “cooperative, or a willing conduit of his/her client, to present a fair and rosy accounting report so it would look nice to the public.” “But as can be gleaned from the figures on Akelco’s financial condition, it is seriously sick – maybe cancer,” the accountant told Panay News. The accountant said the current assets of Akelco are “bloated so as to balance its financial statement, but there is really a serious defect…” Akelco has a long-term debt of P121,637, 609. It has accounts payable for power expenses of more than P80 million, aside from other loans amounting to P60 million, according to the audit report of Balicas, Lamboso & Co. PERALTA: AUDIT MISLEADING In the recent press conference he called, Peralta said the audit report was misleading. He said the power cooperative in fact saved P35 million in 2011 and P54 million in 2012. In its four-page report, Balicas, Lamboso & Co. said Akelco incurred net losses of P78,545,724 in 2011 and P23,856,523 in 2012. In 2011, Akelco earned P1,636,299,235 but spent P1,573,714,428; in 2012, it earned P1,944,233,406 but spent P1,935,486,682, the auditing firm added. Akelco’s liabilities also exceeded its assets by P107.2 million in 2011 and P107.3 million in 2012, Balicas, Laboso & Co. reported. Peralta said the auditor used an auditing procedure that puts the reinvestment fund for sustainable capital expenditure (RFSC) as part of the members’ equity or contribution to the capital instead of the income, thereby increasing Akelco’s liability. Based on the formula of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), Peralta said, the RSFC is revenue since it is part of the customers’ bill. The RFSC is separated from the general fund and is being deposited to another account for the purchase of materials like electrical posts and lines, and equipment, Peralta explained. He said Akelco collects it because ERC does not give the cooperative the power to collect charges on its depreciative assets counted as expenses, which resulted to the losses. Peralta said ERC and NEA were basing their evaluation of the cooperative’s financial standing on cash-basis regulation, while the auditing firm based it on the accrual system. Peralta claimed Akelco is one of the top 50 electric cooperatives in the country and that it was given an AAA status by NEA last year./PN
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 03:12:27 +0000
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