By Ace Alegre
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
BANGUED, Abra – Political maneuvering has plunged Abra into total darkness because private run Aboitiz Power Renewables Inc. cut off its supply three days ago.
The blackout, general manager Loreto Seares Jr. explained, “has political underpinning as the governor wants me out at the expense of the 47,000 member-consumers and Abrenios as a whole.”
Abra’s electric supply was cut off by Aboitiz Monday noon apparently because of Abreco’s unpaid P4.9-million electricity fees.
Abreco was asking Aboitiz for more time to pay its current bill, particularly two to five days grace period, but just the same Abra was placed in total darkness Monday.
“Why make the people of Abra pawns in politics,” Seares Jr. lamented as he suspected Governor Eustaquio Bersamin has a lackey to replace the former ahead of the 2013 polls.
Instead of helping Abrenios, a political agenda went on with its way to “even ask Aboitiz to cut off instead of helping us ask the private firm to wait for more days until collections are at hand for the payment,” Seares said.
Just as power went off Monday noon, Abreco board president David Guzman Jr. received a phone call from the camp of Bersamin insinuating the Provincial Government could have saved the scenario “with Seares Jr. out from the cooperative.”
The new Philippine Cooperative Code bans political intervention into the internal affairs of cooperatives.
“I did not expect that the father of the province himself would sacrifice Abrenios for his political agenda,” Seares said. “It runs counter to the legacy of good governance,” he added.
Efforts to get comments of Bersamin were futile, though earlier, the provincial executive mouthed of helping the cooperative overcome its woes.
Meanwhile, Abra Representative Jocelyn Bernos, vice-chairperson of the House committee on Cooperative Development, is reportedly exhausting all efforts to help Abreco overcome the mess and asking Aboitiz time for the cooperative to pay its one month bill.
Aboitiz signed an agreement with Abreco on December 26, 2011.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/baguio/local-news/2012/12/12/politics-plunges-abra-darkness-258044
abrenian.com 
Bakit ba na lahat na yata ng gimik ay gagawin ng bawat pulitiko. Ang ABRECO ang iipitin, gagawing sangkalan, gagawing pang-istorya de con amor ng bawat pulitiko de toryador? Walang itulak kabigin sa kanila, bawat partido at posisyon mula kay Pedro de Karamba, Juan de Alsa at Maria de Kapra hala, ABRECO ang tinitira at niyayapos.
Lahat ng istorya maririnig mo at lahat may kinalaman sa ABRECO. Kawawa talaga si Abrenyo. KONPYUS NA NG HUSTO!
Posted by Cirilo Rustia | December 12, 2012, 3:37 pmhere we go again aftr kang magamit ni takit kugtaran nakan ganabem met gm ta corupt ka met gamin.
Posted by popoy | December 12, 2012, 6:08 pmAY HUSTON SA MET KONKONAM POPOY? APAY NABIKTIMA NAKA PAY?
Posted by Bileg Abra | December 12, 2012, 8:40 pmThe majority is never right. Never, I tell you! That’s one of these lies in society that no free and intelligent man can help rebelling against. Who are the people that make up the biggest proportion of the population — the intelligent ones or the fools?
Posted by dodo | December 14, 2012, 2:55 amMayat ka met ngamin mayang nga pagamit. Este badong…. Tetta naspak kan.
Posted by Postaquio Bulsamin | December 12, 2012, 7:21 pmHere comes again the “throwing-of-dirt” gimmickry, the “blame game” as we used to say! It’s just happening in Abra, now! The Abreco GM blames the Governor for “sacrificing him out of the Abreco in favor of its 47,000-strong members/consumers”. It’s understandable, of course, as the Governor has to “REGAIN” the trust and “EARN” the votes of these consumers and members of their respective families. To the end that the Abreco GM now becomes the “sacrificial lamb”. It’s the end result, as expected, which could have been abated only if the Abreco GM conducted himself properly into office, be content of what his position has to offer, refuse the urge to steal from unsuspecting members/consumers, and not “blinded by the temporal wealth” which now may become the cause of his eventual downfall/ouster…A lesson learned: “That the things we do in life will come back to us sooner or later.”
Posted by RIMAT TI ABRA | December 12, 2012, 8:07 pmnaspak kan gm dagta kakasinsin mu nga lunatik linabanam gapu ti solsol ni bos takit ita cka ikugtar nan papanam garudem.
Posted by popoy | December 12, 2012, 8:50 pmKet mapan a agsusup iti pigsa na manen iti komporme nga politikon tapnu mabyag…piman a Gimmick-Man(GM)….sika ket kuma iti ma-brown out’n ah..doldog
Posted by foreigner | December 14, 2012, 12:07 pmPinag balin da nga kakaasi datay nga Abrenian.Binolan to daytoy nga problema.kasatno tay panang mentenar to ti Abreco kadaytoy 15 million kada bolan nga expenses ket tay metla miembro na tay inna nam nama-en nga agbayad tay utang na.agbagsak to metla nga saan tay nga makabayad tay kolyinte.ti kinabayag ti Abreco ado koma tay pondo nan ngem pan met tinakaw dagitoy mangkikibrong nga awan posposona nga pasorot ni satanas tay kuarta na
Posted by Kolitsagan | December 14, 2012, 2:20 pmRuby Bersamin
Please bear with me my friends:
After all, I am still human, I hurt and I have shed a few tears. I hurt because most of the things hurled at me, at my family, are patently untrue and unfair.
For a long time, I did not want to respond to trash talk because that’s what I considered all that to be – TRASH. But IT IS TIME TO SPEAK OUT. I am even using my real name because I am not afraid for I am spe
aking the truth.
I always ask Abranians to come and visit to see for themselves what Takit has accomplished in his five brief years of SERVICE, not just administration, in Abra. I reiterate, come and prove it to yourselves who speak the truth and who are just out destroying people’s names and reputation to further their own selfish interests. By putting a man down, does it make one feel better about themselves?
We have three children, they are college graduates and have good jobs. Takit and I and our children have 401K and IRA (Individual Retirement Account) – not the IRA of mayor or kapitan which certain people in Abra put in their pockets every month. Our building, Dona Rosario Bldg., stands on inherited land and was built way back in 2005, from our sweat and labor in the U.S. of A. There was also mention of Mercedes Benz and nice cars and houses of my children. My children have been driving Mercedes and BMW long before we ever came back to Abra. BECAUSE WE HAD GOOD HONEST JOBS. My children buy their cars and their houses and pay monthly mortgages because THEY WORK and receive good salaries, NOT Abra taxpayers’ money.
I am very sorry that Takit is being called “under the saya.” I am even doubly sorry that he has to suffer that moniker because he respects me for my intellect and my capabilities. Thank you Takit for giving me the respect as your wife, as your partner and as an equal. Thank you Takit for letting me serve and walk beside you, not behind you. As Takit always quotes from Mother Teresa, “I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” He is brave and smart enough to recognize that. I will not waste my God-given talent and intelligence because some people don’t like it. As long as I can add value to the service that Takit does for Abra and so long as I can do some good for the people, then I will continue to work beside him.
I also thank God that He gave me enough intelligence to know that a title does not make a person. I have never wanted nor craved to be called Governadora or Ma’am. I am and still remain Ruby or Manang Ruby to all my friends. Title or no title, I AM WHO I AM.
Please do not belittle me because of my Tinguian blood. I am glad that Takit’s parents, Drs. Luis and Rosario Bersamin, totally accepted me for what I am, one who’s PROUD to be a Tinguian. Please know that discrimination of any kind is no longer acceptable. WE ARE ALL EQUAL.
I thank you all for patiently reading this, and for those who have come out in our defense, I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Posted by MS. X | December 14, 2012, 4:28 pmalam pala nyo na mga mayor at kapitan e binubulsa nla ang ira being d wife of d governur nasabhan mo ba si gob na dapat maparusahan ang mga ngbubulsa ng ira. wala kau gnawa dahl pareho lng kau ng mga mayor at kakapitan binubulsa ang ira.
Posted by resureccion | December 15, 2012, 2:33 amto resureccion, paano naman parusahan ni gov. takit yang mga sinasabi ni penarubi na mga mayors at kakapitan na nagnanakaw ei mga kaalyado nila sila at lalo na ultimo ti panagtakaw kakaanakan penarubi (madam x) nga mayora mamsaang-balbuena, kapitana baby mamsaang ken sangguniang kabsatda idiay ili na nga penarrubia. no parusahan na dagiti agtatakaw ah ket amindan nga pamilya!
Posted by Bileg Abra | December 15, 2012, 4:22 amnahuhule nga cla sa sarile nilang bibig e. mga pulitiko dto admited naman nla na corrupt cla ewan ko ba ke ruby deny tn d max cla kaya toloy very furious mga taga abra mgcritics sa kanila
Posted by resureccion | December 15, 2012, 5:07 amI read your letter and it really taxed my patience. You brag about the 401K and IRA that both you and Gov. Takit and your three children have. I was not born yesterday. The 401K and IRA you are bragging about have been obliterated by the financial meltdown that happened in the US in the mid-2000 up to the latter part of the decade. People in the US have all been affected by the financial meltdown. Many people lost their homes to forfeiture and their cars to repossession. Would you now have me believe that you and the members of your family were not affected by it? Everything you are saying about your children with their “HONEST?” jobs, salaries, homes and Benzes and BMWs are pure hogwash. It is abundantly clear that people in the US are suffering, having to accept pay cuts just to keep their jobs. Many have lost their homes and many more survive on welfare checks. Mind you, I have a brother who has a high-paying job as an executive at JP Morgan-Chase and he does not speak of owning nice houses and Benzes and BMWs like they were going out of style. Could it be perhaps that he is more prudent with spending because he works really hard for the money? When I hear people speaking of nice houses, BMWs and Benzes, I cannor help but think about people who never had it so good (you know what I mean of course – easy come, easy go).
I have first hand knowledge of Gov. Takit’s propensity to lend red-plate vehicles to balikbayans for their personal use during the whole length of their vacation. It also comes with free fuel to boot, of course charged to the account of the provincial government. This is plain and simple MALVERSATION OF PUBLIC FUNDS. You are treating the property of the government as though it is your own. Tell me it isn’t true and I will show you an inveterate liar. If you can allow people to use government resources, is it far-fetched for you to help yourselves to the same?
You take pride in the achievements of Gov. Takit. I now ask you, at what cost? Pray, tell us, or better yet make an accounting to the people of all the funds that you used. My hair has turned gray but I have yet to see a politician in the province of Abra who has not enriched himself in power. We are not dumb so please do not insult our intelligence. To make it absolutely clear, I repeat, “I have yet to see a politician or a government official in Abra who did not enrich himself in power”. Only your faces are different, your deeds or more accurately, your misdeeds are the same. Is it any wonder why you are stuck like barnacles to your positions? The people of Abra have had enough of your plunder and misrule. We have had enough of your hypocrisy too.
Posted by pedro abreno | January 2, 2013, 12:25 amMadam: As long as your conscience is clear, don’t be bothered for they were just derogatory tactics as part of dirty politics. If we cannot trust our judicial system, we still have Divine justice to judge all of us according to our own deeds or what we have done in life. Just continue loving your enemies/detractors and your rewards will be given by the only One who knows what’s in our hearts.
Posted by love | December 14, 2012, 6:32 pmYah right! After years of service,how will you explain the .4Billion new hospital!!! madam no talaga nga patas kau nga tattao ken adda transparency yo kitam kaadwan empleyado kapitolyo puros taga penarubia…. Haan lng nga sikaikayo ti nakaabroad mas adu pay taga abra nga naka-Amerika nga mas nangatngato adal n ngem haan kas kaniayo t kinabaknang da.mabain kayo koma nu adda pay nabatbati nga bain yo
Posted by SOSOP | December 14, 2012, 7:38 pm“Don’t judge lest you’ll be judged”. The accused will remain innocent until it will be proven otherwise, preferably in the court of law not by us. Besides, who are we to judge? Are we Christians get paid by condemning or embarrassing others without considering first the benefit of the doubt? Knock it off, you are just stressing your mind and others who have still faith in our judicial system in particular and Divine justice in general. Learn to forgive and will be forgiven and sure enough you will feel a peace of mind encouraging you to trust the existence of equal justice one more time. Sleep tight now my brother from different mother, okay?
Posted by Peace | December 14, 2012, 8:54 pmmadam x we are aware of d acumplishment of ur husband but u forgot to mention dat. all of projects were funded tru a loan yet it were implemented wd anumalies. being an electd public oficial in a demucratic country like ours is prone to crisicsm. if u dnt wnt to be d center of critics serve us well wd good governance.
Posted by drunken master | December 14, 2012, 10:21 pmmadam x we are aware of d acumplishment of ur husband but u forgot to mention dat. all of projects were funded tru a loan yet it were implemented wd anumalies. being an electd public oficial in a demucratic country like ours is prone to crisicsm. if u dnt wnt to be d center of critics serve us well wd good governance.wwtrgpw. stop hating.
Posted by drunken master | December 14, 2012, 10:23 pmWell said PEACE specially in this season we are in now. Need we remind eachother ahem DRUNKEN.
Posted by STOP HATING. | December 15, 2012, 12:06 amuh i think u r losing reasons n justifications on my coment. u dnt nid to borow ideas to depend madam x its realy hard to repute d truth abt d persun u r depending if d alegations r true.
Posted by drunken master | December 15, 2012, 1:24 amActually i’m not, I just follow you just to make your life miserable due to the fact that you just ramble on and have no bearing on what you say and your spelling is horrible. You comment probably like you text JeJe style. You know what sorry for saying your style is JeJe 🙂
As a quote taken from peace above “Don’t judge lest you’ll be judged” now WHAT HAVE YOU DONE thats so positive for mankind for that matter. You say you want change but most likely have done nothing but sit on your pwet. You rant and rave lets do this lets do that but nothing positive. Change comes from within pare.
Posted by STOP HATING. | December 15, 2012, 11:57 amagain u r protegee of madam x for being matapobre. am a jolog as u insist but we represent d majority. am proud to be jologs or masa .erap became a president bec of us now gov takit wl meet hs political end bec of us. am culing felow jologs to bear wd me vote out takit bec hs spokespersun looks down at us.
Posted by drunken master | December 15, 2012, 7:05 pmBilibak man ti kinatured ni madam X nga umay agsarita ditoy iti likudan dagiti atake kadakuada?
No awan to ti mapaneknekan ti Korte kadagiti ibagbaga da nga basbasol da ditoy, kayat ko man nga maysa met isuna nga agbalin to koma nga mangidaulo ti Abra base ti tured ken madlaw nga sirib na. Sapay koma ta madalusan to dayta nagan yo agsipud ta masayang laeng dagita nga kalibre no saan nga mausar ti pagsisyaatan iti kaaduan. Kailian, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt while waiting for the outcome of their case. It could happen to any of us, so as a christian, let us forgive them in our hearts while allowing our justice system or divine justice to handle the rest. In the meantime, give yourself a peace of mine and move on to other issues that need more of your attentions or acts. Force yourself to relax and enjoy life as if its last for tomorrow nobody knows what it brings to us. Instead of using our precious time of hating people, why don’t we just use it for loving in order to prevent stress or hate known or proven as the number one cause of physical infirmities? It’s still your choice though……
Posted by christian | December 15, 2012, 2:05 pmcorrection: give yourself a peace of mind instead of “mine” …sorry
Posted by christian | December 15, 2012, 5:46 pmRimat Ti Abra, what do you think of Madam X as one of the future hopes of the province?
Posted by farmer juan | December 15, 2012, 2:13 pmexactly il just vote syd or kit bersamira
Posted by drunken master | December 16, 2012, 7:59 amForgiving is one of the most kept secrets of the real happy and successful people! Try or prove it!
Posted by sleeping dragon | December 16, 2012, 3:14 pmA REBUTTAL TO MADAME RUBY
1. Your husband is overrated. He is a poor excuse of a provincial chief executive. He consistently falls short of his brother Chito’s legacy of good governance;
2. Your spin about Takit’s involvement in the Abreco imbroglio is cosmetic subterfuge; it has gone out of your pudgy hands’ control; and
3. By all indications, your delusion of grandeur has taken the better hold of your conjugal rule. You now suffer from a terminal case of Messianic complex which has made you six feet tall in your own myopic reckoning.
That’s three counts we can gladly expound to belie once and for all your exaggerated Torrens title claims to the province of Abra.
Firstly, with all his elevated posturing for two elective tenures, Takit has still to convince the small Abrenios that they are better off now than they were under Vicsyd. We still await him to deliver on those magnanimous promises he mouthed in 2007 and 2010. For one, how’s the new hospital now? Even as he rode high on the sympathy votes that catapulted him to the throne of the Capitol after Chito’s assassination, he could not replicate the latter’s achievements and people charisma. Chary has that legacy; she could ably fill his father’s shoes someday. We wonder why a different molding was used to enlarge Takit and foist him upon a then grieving Abra. We are a province of big dreams and tall ambitions. Not short expectations
Secondly, the hardline stance of Aboitiz, PSALM, and NGCP vis-à-vis Abreco’s predicament has been abetted by Takit’s obstructionist attitude during the negotiations for extension of bill payment and loan restructuring plan. While Congresswoman Joy went out of her way in making representations with these business giants, Takit was perverting the whole process by scheming and marshaling his own transition forces to take over Abreco once a total blackout turns the tide of public opinion against the beleaguered Abreco board and management.
Thirdly, since you have already declared your own ascension to the lofty throne of conjugal dictatorship, we must tell you that you are no Ferdinand and Imelda. By a mile, you could not reach their altitude. With all your magnificent mansions and prodigious bank accounts here and in the US, Abrenios do not feel saved, delivered, and freed from poverty and servitude. We are dwarfed beneath the resplendent royalty which you have proudly arrogated upon yourselves. Your self-assumed heights of glory belittle, bedazzle, and bewilder Mr. Juan de Abra.
1-2-3! Oh say, can’t you see, Madame Ruby? You are knocked out cold at the count of three.
Posted by leopoldo ardiente sr. | December 17, 2012, 4:36 amVery well said Mr. Leopoldo Ardiente, Sr.!
Posted by Bileg Abra | December 17, 2012, 6:46 amI do really want to agree with you but unfortunately my limited education prevents me to understand the whole concepts of your reply to Madam X’s appeal. I am just fortunate that this Site allows my kind to interact with highly educated abrenians like you on matters of general interest or the current events in our province especially in the field of politics. I have heard phrases such as character assassination, libelous statements, due process of law, tangible proofs, court judgment, mere gossips, hypocrites, pathological liar, and others but despite of my efforts in consulting the dictionary and other avenues in order to understand how they will be applied in the real world, I was still totally lost and excruciatingly suffering in vain because of my unforgivable ignorance.
In a simple words or explanations, if I could favor from you Sir Ardiente, Sr., please give us some insights of the above phrases and further clarification on how we could relate it to Madam X alleged role in shaping the province, or her alleged intervention with her husband’s governance which refers to accountability and transparency without being sued for libel or the like? I am certain that she will not drag us in the court of law unless freedom of information and speech has been curtailed which is obviously still not. Besides, a woman of her caliber, gifted with christian values, I doubt that she is more than happy to ruin somebody’s life unless perhaps she will be pushed too hard up to the limits of her understanding, forgiving, and loving christian attitudes.
Thanking you in advance sir and please bear with my carabao english..
Respectfully yours…..
Posted by uneducated guest | December 17, 2012, 2:36 pmi’m so overwhelmed, mixed emotions beyond understanding. minorities as we are in the eyes of grandstanders in philippine society, i’m tingling proud to be tingguian or abranian , reading all these clash of intellectual powers, but so sad and hurt that these godgiven gifts we possess, have given us strength to go against each other. if we love our children, people, look into our hearts and find peace in doing what is rightious. whatever name we call our supreme creator, God, Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah, reach out to Him and ask to bless us with love and forgiveness, cleanse us from ill will, greed, misunderstanding and all evil. if you are good you cant be happy to cheat, lie, blame, kill, or even just to throw stones at each other.. easier said than done yes, because we are but human, but what will our children have if we don’t stop treating each other like shit. start with ourselves, and work hand in hand to achieve goals centered not on ourselves but on our future. all we are fighting about will grow in our children’s hearts. if we sow hate and greed, then hate and greed it is they reap.
I cant seem to get over my elation in finding out how deep witted my kalahi are, diploma or none, i feel their pride, and love for abra. use these to build and nourish, not to destroy till we go extinct.
Posted by adana 'kimatdaya' liwanag | January 6, 2013, 5:36 am