Philreca Rep. Presley De Jesus (Photo courtesy of Philreca Facebook)
MANILA – A complaint has been filed against a party-list lawmaker who continues to cling onto his post as president of a local electric cooperative.
In a 15-page sworn complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman, the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc. (Nasecore), represented by its executive director, Rafael Acebedo, accused Rep. Presley de Jesus of the Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, Inc. (Philreca) party-list, of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019) for continuing to hold another office while already a member of Congress.
The complaint, filed on May 10, 2021, alleged that de Jesus has not relinquished his position as Isabela-I Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Iselco-I) president of the Board of Directors.
The group is asking the Ombudsman to hold de Jesus criminally and administratively liable for “grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, grave abuse of authority, prejudicial to the best interest of public service” as well as seeking his preventive suspension while the proceedings are ongoing.
De Jesus won in the 2019 elections as Philreca’s first nominee and took his oath of office on May 23, 2019.
In Congress, he is the vice chair of the Committee on Energy and is a member of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Energy.
Under the Constitution, no senator or member of the House of Representatives may hold any other office or employment in the government, including government-owned and controlled corporations, without forfeiting his seat.
The complaint claimed de Jesus violated RA 3019, which makes it “unlawful for any member of Congress during the term for which he has been elected to acquire or receive any personal pecuniary interest in any specific business enterprise which will be directly and particularly benefitted or favored by any law or resolution authored by him approved by Congress during the same term.”
“It must be stressed that respondent (de Jesus) has initiated, co-authored or supported during his current term as board president of Iselco-I, legislative bills and resolutions that would be beneficial to electrical cooperatives,” the Nasecore complaint read.
“It must be noted that electric cooperatives are indirectly supervised and regulated by Congress through the Joint Congressional Energy Commission which he (de Jesus) is a member,” the complaint further said, adding that “electric cooperatives have been given subsidies and financial assistance by the National Electrification Administration and therefore tantamount to have been granted a special privilege by the government.”
The group also said under Presidential Decree No. 269, “elective officers of the government, except barrio captains and councilors, shall be ineligible to become officers and/or directors of any cooperative”.
Iselco-I’s website said de Jesus became a member of the board in 2015 and after a year, was elected as the board president. (PNA)
