Dumawing is new BENECO BOD president

By Laarni S. Ilagan

The newly elected BENECO Board of Directors unanimously voted Benguet District 9 (Sablan and Tuba) representative lawyer George M. Dumawing, Jr. as chairperson of the board.

Baguio City District 5 representative Claudio Calugan was chosen as vice-chairperson.

Dumawing will serve for one year as the board decided to keep with the tradition of previous boards that the president of the BOD will rotate alternately from among the Benguet members with that of Baguio City.

Since Dumawing represents a Benguet district, vice chairperson Calugan will be the president or chairperson after one year.

Dumawing served as one of the five National Electrification Administration (NEA) appointed interim Task Force BENECO directors after the government regulator stepped in to solve the leadership crisis on January 11, 2023.

Dumawing qualified as the lone candidate for District 9 during the election on Sep. 21, 2024, while Calugan was among the first batch of newly elected directors on April 20, 2024.

The BENECO Task Force — Steve Cating (chairperson), Elma Donaal, lawyer George Dumawing, Rodolfo de Guia, and Joaquin Geronimo Depalog, Jr. – including the appointed corporate secretary Mia Magdalena Fokno, will serve until December 31, 2024.

A special election will be set for Baguio District 6 and Benguet District 11 before the year ends. No aspiring candidate qualified for District 11 in the Sep. 21, 2024 election while the NEA is yet to decide on the election protest for District 6.

BENECO’s elected directors now are Alex Bomogao (Dist. 1-Baguio), Josephine Aclayan (Dist.2-Baguio), Joseph Zambrano (Dist. 3-Baguio), Roseller Ascano (Dist.4-Baguio), Engr. Claudio Calugan (Dist. 5-Baguio), Joel Cervantes (Dist. 7-Benguet) and Wilfredo Diano ((District 10-Benguet). ***(LSI)