IN the second district of Camarines Sur are two boards of directors for public utilities — that of the Metro Naga Water District (MNWD) and that of the Camarines Sur II Electric Cooperative (Casureco II) — and surprisingly they are a study in contrast.

        The members of the MNWD Board of Directors seldom become the subjects of hot commentaries in the radio and print media, described as mga nagbabagang bareta.

        But the members of the Casureco II Board of Directors more often than not hog the limelight of the week and share the front page news with crime stories, killings, robberies, hold-ups, and soaring debts — with special thanks to the explosivong, explosivong expose’ of that fair and fearless Jane Barrameda whose integrity as a person charged to watch over the funds of the cooperative is beyond reproach and who observes scrupulously standard auditing procedures.

        The members of the MNWD Board of Directors meet regularly and they do not spend the money of the MNWD for their food and drinks. The members of the Casureco II Board of the Directors also meet on a regular basis yet they charge their food and drinks and whatever else is consumed in their meeting against the funds of the electric cooperative.

        The members of the MNWD Board of Directors are businessmen and they pay from their own pocket whatever expenses there are for their food and drinks. The members of the Casureco II Board of Directors are not predominantly businessmen but professionals yet they know where the money of the electric cooperative is and are able to spend coop money without drawing out bills from their own pockets. It could be said then that businessmen spend their own money while professionals spend other people’s money.

        The members of the MNWD Board of Directors are not elected by the consumers, rather are appointed as sectoral representatives by the City Mayor, which makes them political appointees and beholden to the wishes of their appointing officer. Yet they work independently, keeping in mind the interest of the greater number of consumers. The members of Casureco II Board of Directors are elected by the member-consumers, which gives them all the reason not to become pawns of politicians, yet they are beholden to the wishes and influence of the powers-that-be in their locality.

        The members of the MNWD Board of Directors are known for giving out solutions to problems in the water district based on feedbacks from consumers. The members of the Casureco II Board of Directors are the problems themselves, even as they never lend their ears to the pleas of their consumers and pass resolutions inimical to the interests of the member-consumers.

        Electric power and water are two elements that are vital to life. Utilities have been constructed to bring these elements to our homes, to make the home a better place to live in, to raise the standard of life to a level that befits human beings. The board of directors is created with a mandate to make the system work and to formulate laws and regulations that are expedient and just and fair to all member-consumers.

        But when the members of the board turn their backs at their mandate and become the problem themselves and not part of the solution, there is no point in maintaining a board of directors that is pagabat and pasaway in any public utility.