Senate panel maintains ERC needs to conduct open hearings

THE Senate committee on energy has maintained its stance that deliberations at the Energy Regulatory Commission ( ERC) be opened to the public to ensure transparency on the positions taken by its members on contentious issues.

“Here at the Senate, the deliberations are open. You can see which senator has taken what position or argument,” Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, the committee chairman, said in an interview.

“We’re open here. So the same principles ( should apply to the ERC),” he added.

Mr. Gatchalian made the comments in view of the ERC’s preference to maintain confidentiality on some aspects of its deliberations before coming up with a decision on applications that seek the commission’s action.

In his proposed legislation, Senate Bill No. 1490 entitled “An Act Enhancing the Governance Structure of the Energy Regulatory Commission,” the senator called for an “open meeting” where the public may participate.

“So the same principles — so that we will inform the public of our arguments, we will enlighten the public and the public also will be guided accordingly,” Mr. Gatchalian said.

In its comments and position on the Senate bill, the ERC cited the “deliberative process privilege” invoked by the Supreme Court: “Broadcasting such discussions to the public would have a chilling effect on those who take part in it. One would be careful not to take unpopular positions or make comments that border on the ridiculous, which often is a way of seeing issues in a different perspective.”

Mr. Gatchalian said after last week’s hearing on his bill, a technical working group would go over the points raised by the invited resource persons, which included the ERC and industry stakeholders.

“There’s a need to really be specific in the roles of the chairman, the roles of the executive director, the roles of the commissioners because this is where difficulties in interpretation have emerged,” he said.

He said the “problem with interpretation” caused the squabbles at the ERC in the past, which also gave rise to a “power play” that delayed the issuance of crucial decisions. “We consumers are on the losing end,” he said. —