The board of state-owned National Power Corporation (NPC) has failed to approve the “employee reorganization plan” drafted by management, in a meeting convened Wednesday supposedly for that purpose before changeover in administration takes place next week.

Highly-placed government sources noted that acting Energy secretary Jose C. Ibazeta did not show up at the board meeting, and that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) also has no representation for the proceedings.

It was further noted that the “re-organization plan” had been intended to clean up the state-run power firm of “superfluous number of consultants” which flurried at the company’s organization in recent years, especially at its accounting and administration units.

The recent board meeting should have been NPC’s last-ditch effort at cleaning up its table of organization (TO), but it failed. While the company still counts over 3,200 base of employees under plantilla positions and those rendering contractual services, it was emphasized that many of the workforce at the power plants were absorbed by the new owners.

“Almost 90 percent of our employees in these power plants were absorbed by the new owners. Those who were not absorbed, most of the time opt for early retirement, while others are still able to get employment somewhere else. At present there are a little less than 3,200 employees nationwide, comprising of plantilla, non-plantilla and contract of service personnel,” NPC spokesperson Dennis S. Gana said.

NPC’s first major reorganization was immediately after the passage of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) in 2001 as mandated by policy; and this round is considered the second “cleaning up” process for the de-monopolized power firm.

In a press statement, NPC justified that the reorganization plan is in accordance with the relevant provisions of the EPIRA as well as that of Republic Act 6656, or the “Act to Protect the Security of Tenure of Civil Service Officers and Employees in the Implementation of Government Reorganization.”

“This law aims to provide the processes that will ensure that the reorganization will take place as smoothly as possible, without violating any of the employees’ rights and privileges. On the other hand, RA 9136 is the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or EPIRA, which provides the parameters for the reorganization, basically due to the privatization of National Power generation assets,” Gana explained further.

The power firm executive though acknowledged prospects that “the present NP Board can opt not to act on it, and instead leave the decision to the incoming NP Board just as what is being done in other government agencies on pending issues.”

Gana noted though that the re-organization move “is not a simple task. These processes were set up to ensure the continuous provision and delivery of service of the agency undergoing reorganization, and that the rights and privileges of employees concerned are protected.”

Apart from NPC, it was noted that re-organization moves were also done at other Department of Energy-affiliated agencies, including the Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC) which is still under the government’s tutelage.