4 ERC Commissioners slapped with another 3-mo suspension

The four top-level officials of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) have been slapped with another round of three-month suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman for “simple neglect of duty,” purportedly “for tolerating the misuse of bill deposits” that were paid by the customers of power utility giant Manila Electric Company.

Suspended anew have been Commissioners Alfredo J. Non and Gloria Victoria C. Yap-Taruc, whose terms of office are both expiring July 10 this year; as well as Commissioners Josefina Patricia M. Asirit and Geronimo D. Sta. Ana.

The case had been elevated to the Ombudsman’s office by consumer advocacy group National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc. (NASECORE), with it arguing that the ERC officials allowed the commingling of the bill deposits to the capital or operating costs of Meralco, which it claimed is “contrary to the purpose for which the bill deposits was established –as guarantee for payment of bills.”

NASECORE also lodged estafa and grave misconduct charges against the officials of Meralco and the ERC Commissioners, but the Ombudsman’s office dismissed such “for insufficiency of evidence.”

The ruling has instead stipulated that the four Commissioners “continuously refrain from strictly implementing rules defining the nature of BDs (bill deposits) as mere guarantee in payment of bills,” which must be returned at the termination of the distribution utility’s service.

It was similarly argued that the ERC officials “failed to issue rules or policies such as the creation of a separate escrow account to avoid commingling of the BDs with the capital or operational expenses of Meralco or any DU for that matter.”

Nasecore similarly stated that the ERC “tolerated the use of BDs as Meralco’s capital without the benefit of a reasonable return of interest to accrue yearly to consumers.”

This is the second time that the four Commissioners have been suspended – the first one was a case relating to extension of filing on the power supply agreements of Meralco – although until now, these PSAs have not actually been decided yet by the Commission.

Their first suspension from office in December, 2017 was supposedly for one year, but was cut short initially by a temporary restraining order (TRO) then an injunction order from the Court of Appeals.

In this current case, Nasecore in particular has questioned “the unauthorized use and utilization of consumers’ bill deposits by the distribution utility, the discriminatory fixing of interests by the ERC and the non-crediting by Meralco of the interests earned by the bill deposits in favor of the consumers.”

It further contended that “the Commissioners are remiss in exercising (their) mandate of protecting the interest of the electricity consuming public resulting in regulatory failure.”