Raps may be filed vs defiant ERC officials – Palace
Should officials of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) continue to defy President Duterte’s call for them to resign amid alleged anomalies in the agency, other options may be considered, like filing of cases in court, a Palace official said yesterday.
Assistant Communications Secretary Marie Banaag said Malacañang understands that the ERC officials have fixed terms of office and could not be easily booted out.
The call for resignation came after ERC director Francisco Villa Jr., head of the agency’s bids and awards body, committed suicide last Nov. 9. He left notes insinuating he was under pressure from his superiors to do corrupt activities.
Duterte, who was then in Peru attending the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, demanded the resignation of all ERC officials.
“The President has guidelines toward corruption cases,” Banaag said.
Commissioners Alfredo Non, Gloria Victoria Yap-Taruc, Josefina Asirit and Geronimo Sta. Ana said they will not resign, while ERC chief Jose Vicente Salazar has not categorically stated that he would not heed the President’s call.
Salazar, who was appointed by former president Benigno Aquino III last year, said he wanted to set a meeting with Duterte to clear things up.
He added that he would take “appropriate actions to protect the organization,” like asking the Commission on Audit to look into Villa’s allegations and participating in the planned Senate inquiry.
Banaag said she is not aware that a letter requesting for an audience with the President has been received.
“We don’t know if President Duterte would want a dialog. Perhaps, these developments have reached the President. They are still in flight ( from Peru) but they are updated every time there is a network signal,” Banaag added.
House mulls abolishing ERC
The House of Representatives, for its part, will consider abolishing the ERC after Duterte called on lawmakers to shut it down.
“We will be studying the abolition of the ERC through an amendment of the EPIRA law,” energy committee chairman Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco of Marinduque said yesterday.
He was referring to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.
“The ERC is a creature of law. It is a quasi-judicial regulatory body tasked to promote competition, encourage market development and penalize abuses in the market of the electricity industry,” he said.
He said the commission plays an important role in monitoring the activities of industry players.
Velasco added that his committee would decide whether to replace ERC with another body or transfer its functions to the Department of Energy.
No midnight deals
Meanwhile, the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) has refuted allegations of midnight deals with the ERC after it was tagged in anomalous dealings which were revealed following the suicide of the agency’s bids and awards committee chief.
The power distributors’ power supply agreements (PSAs) were filed “in accordance with existing ERC rules and regulations which go through a very transparent and rigorous public hearing process,” Meralco legal head William Pamintuan said in a statement.
“The fact of the matter is that these PSA applications are still pending hearing before the ERC. It is therefore unfair and not truthful to insinuate any connection of these PSA applications to the current controversy at the ERC,” he said.
Moreover, the PSAs are not part of the matters being taken up by the bids and award committee of the ERC, which deals with internal contracts and procurement at the ERC, Pamintuan said.
Last April, Meralco signed 20-year power supply deals with seven generation companies for over 3,551 megawatts of electricity supply to cover the growing requirements of its franchise area.
Meralco then filed separate applications with the ERC for approval of the PSAs.
However, these applications were filed just a day before the competitive selection process ( CSP) policy took effect on April 30. –