2 Cebuanos in ERC controversy
TWO of the five-person Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), whose members have been asked by President Duterte to resign, are Cebuanos by birth or occupation.
They are Josefina Patricia “Aina” Magpale-Asirit and Geronimo “Gerry” Sta. Ana.
PDut threatened them with abolition of the office or zero budget and filing of charges after ERC’s executive director Francisco Villa Jr. killed himself last Nov. 9, leaving suicide notes that alleged he had been pressured to accept a contract for an audio-visual presentation without bidding.
The energy secretary ordered an investigation but PDut made his demand, which ERC Chairman Jose Vicente Salazar and the commissioners, including Aina and Gerry, rejected.
Appointed last July 11, 2013, Aina’s term will end in 2020. Gerry, also with a seven-year term, started on March 19, 2015.
Aina was a Cebu Provincial Board member and cohosted a program on dyAB radio. Daughter of Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale and niece of former Cabinet secretary Ruben Almendras during Noynoy Aquino’s term, Aina wasan asst. secretary of Department of Energy before she moved to ERC.
Gerry was governor of Board of Investments, representing private sector, before his ERC stint. A partner in such big accounting firms as Carlos J. Valdes & Co., he was president of Cebu Chamber of Commerce and is atrustee of University of Southern Philippines.
The other ERC commissioners who also defy Duterte’s threat are Alfredo Non and Gloria Victoria Yap-Taruc.
Why the hyper response
THE heavy display of executive power is justified if there’s strong evidence against the ERC commissioners and due process is observed.
File charges against them but to make them resign without their being heard would violate their rights. Confront them with the evidence other than the suicide note, which could come from someone whose mind was apparently unhinged.
Abolish ERC? Only if it’s shown it doesn’t serve a useful purpose.
For that reason, crippling the ERC by cutting off its budget amounts to abolishing it. Just like burning down the kitchen if the cooks were pilfering the food supply.
But why PDut’s explosion? Could be because a sister of the suicide victim is broadcaster Charrie Villa. She must carry some weight.