S1L14 – The Difference between “power of control” and “supervision””
This is potentially boring stuff unless you’re sick and tired of people who talk like they know everything about electric cooperatives, BENECO, and NEA—but are actually bluffing and just trying to impress you. This might “empower” you for that next encounter.
In other words, this is part of the continuing “MCO Education Program” here in the Facebook School of Law.
By the way, one of my REAL law students was complaining last week. Apparently, she ran into an MCO, “Bakit ganun, sir, mas marami naman na siyang alam kesa sa akin, e ako yung magba-Bar?” So I promised I would ask a couple of MCO’s to tag her FB page.
What is the difference between “power of control” and “power of supervision?”
This is the point of debate between NEA and BENECO. NEA claims it exercises the “power of control” over BENECO—and, by implication over ALL electric cooperatives in the Philippines. What is the legal basis of NEA in claiming this?
None.
I don’t know what law NEA is talking about that supposedly gave them the “power of control” over electric cooperatives. Principally, there are only five (5) laws dealing with national electrification that commonly involve NEA and electric cooperatives. These are:
(1) Republic Act No. 2717 (June 19, 1960) which birthed the first—the original—nationwide electrification program;
(2) Republic Act No. 6038 (June 28, 1969) which created NEA and the electric cooperatives (EC’s) at the SAME time;
(3) Presidential Decree No. 269 (August 6, 1973) which formally restructured NEA as a government-owned and controlled corporation having an authorized capital of One Billion Pesos;
(4) Presidential Decree No. 1645 (October 8, 1979) which raised NEA’s capitalization to Five Billion Pesos; and
(5) Republic Act No. 10531 (May 7, 2013) which harmonized the functions of NEA with the objectives of Republic Act No 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (“EPIRA” law).
Now that you know what these laws are, FORGET them. I just listed them down for ready reference so that the next time somebody tries to impress you with these laws’ serial numbers (usually hanggang serial number lang naman sila eh) “counter-impress” them by even telling them WHEN the laws took effect and the summary of each law.
But really, the only thing you need to remember is that NONE of these laws give NEA “power of control” over BENECO. What they give NEA is only the “power to supervise” and here’s an illustration of their difference:
Juan is a taxi driver. He has “power of control” over the car (taxi unit) he is driving. He chooses when to drive forward, turn left, turn right, slow down, accelerate or stop. He chooses what gear to use and when to shift gears. When his passenger says “bring me to Sinipsip” Juan must use his discretion to determine the most efficient route to get there, guided by his personal knowledge of the traffic situation, road condition, the capability of the car, etc. He is in total control of the operation of the car.
Pedro is the taxi operator that Juan works for. Pedro has “power of supervision” over Juan. Pedro must ensure that Juan performs his job strictly within the terms and conditions of the taxi franchise.
So he might tell Juan, “O, Remember, Juan, ‘Baguio to any point of the Cordillera Region’ lang tayo, kaya wag kang maghahatid sa NAIA, mahuhuli tayo.”
Pedro must also see to it that Juan ‘flags down’ the meter, charging only the legal flagdown rate and the incremental rate, and not one centavo more, “Huwag kang magko-kontrata ng sarili mong pasahe, Juan, pagmumultahin tayo.”
Even if they have a “hi-tech” operation and Juan is in radio contact with Pedro throughout the day, Pedro cannot interfere with how Juan drives.
He cannot tell him, “O, Juan nakikita ko sa dashcam kung nasaan ka…o Juan kabig sa kanan..o Juan, bawi! O, preno ng konti…Juan ikambyo mo sa primera…signal light! Turn light Juan…o umuulan na Juan..wiper! wiper, dali!!!”
In exercising the “power to supervise” the supervisor cannot substitute his own wisdom for that of the person being supervised (the subordinate). He can only see to it that the subordinate does not exceed the limits of his authority (to drive, for example). Those limits are defined in the franchise.
It makes no difference that Pedro OWNS the car, or that he is HIGHER IN RANK than Juan. “Supervision” and “control” are relational concepts, not a comparison of levels of authority.
Suppose Juan owns the car, meaning he is an operator who drives his own unit—then he is autonomous and exercises both control and supervision over himself. The only thing he has to think about is where to stick that “Uber” or “Grab” sticker on his windshield.
Then you come to terms with a THIRD relational concept—“power of regulation”—which is exercised over Juan by the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
That’s the same degree of power exercised by NEA over BENECO because as a private corporation, BENECO is autonomous. BENECO is not part of the government. Never was, is not and never will be.
Contrary to common perception, the “power of regulation” is not a broader power. In fact, it’s narrower. The LTFRB cannot even tell Grab driver Juan what color his car should be. Just like NEA cannot even dictate what should be the color of the BENECO employees’ uniforms. It is BENECO that chooses whatever color it wants: yellow, blue, burnt sienna or polka dots–it’s up to them.
So next time, tell the NEA guy, “Dude, you can’t even choose the color of our uniform, now you want to choose our GM?”
The author is a writer and lawyer based in Baguio City, Philippines. Former editor of the Gold Ore and Baguio City Digest, professor of journalism, political science and law at Baguio Colleges Foundation (BCF). He is a photographer and video documentarist. He has a YouTube channel called “Parables and Reason”