Elameto eyes suit vs CUC • Ousted chairperson wants AGO to probe board move due to possible constitutional violation

Former Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Board Chairperson Rosario M. Elameto has protested her ouster as head of the policy-making body as she expressed concern that the action by some members may be unconstitutional.

In a sign of growing infighting within the seven-man board, she asked the Attorney General’s Office to bring the issue to court and seek a judgment on behalf of CUC and the government.

Should the decision by the board to elect new officers be declared null and void, Ms. Elameto urged the governor to take actions, including their termination from the government-owned utility corporation, for breaching the laws and stepping the boundary of their duties.

The ex-board chair, whose one-year tenure was cut short when Vice Chair Jesus T. Guerrero was elected to replace her last week, warned failure to resolve the dispute could demoralize CUC employees and damage its reputation.

“Take immediate action on the Declaratory Judgment, and help restore law, order, common sense, and decency to and for our corporation and the Commonwealth,” she told in a letter to acting Attorney General Herb D. Soll.

Ms. Elameto made the appeal a day after the board booted her out of office during a surprise election last March 16, with four months to go before her term expires.

It was included in the agenda at the last minute by four members despite objection by CUC legal counsel Bill Ohle, who said the move would still need a 24-hour public notice.

But a legal opinion prepared by Board Member Laura I. Manglona, who was sworn in that day for her second term, argued the Open Government Act provides that such action is lawful if majority of the board concurs.

Willful violations

According to Ms. Elameto, her advisers had informed her of several violations of that act and other laws and regulations may have willfully taken place by some members of the board at that time.

She requested Mr. Soll to immediately clarify the confusion, investigate and issue a legal opinion, noting that CUC bylaws state that board elections are conducted at the annual meeting held July each year.

“Because I believe that certain board members may have acted out of the scope of their fiduciary and or legal authority, the actions of the meeting might therefore be null and void,” she said. “[CUC] cannot operate in a business like manner without a legal chair.”

Hinting that some members of the Senate might have aided the board to plot her removal as their presence at the board meeting showed, Ms. Elameto said the current squabble has caught CUC management in a crossfire.

“I am no puppet for members of the Legislature,” she said. “The board’s internal negotiations, arguments, investigations of one another, and external actions to puppeteer board members should immediately stop for the benefit of the 360 staff members who do work hard.”

Plotted in two weeks, Ms. Elameto’s ouster was apparently a direct result of the decision by the board under her leadership to scrap the 80-megawatt power plant on Saipan.

Her stern position has drawn the ire of some members of the Legislature who were forced to pass legislation opposing the action. The measure reinstating the original plan is pending with Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio for his signature.

“I do not, and have never ‘blamed the power plant vendors’ for wanting the procurement contract and taking all legal actions to succeed. Furthermore, I do not ‘blame the Legislature’ for wanting to protect the economic and electric interests of its voters,” added Ms. Elameto.