ERC assures: No news blackout

By BusinessMirror  November 30, 2016

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/erc-assures-no-news-blackout/

THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) assured that there is no “gag order” in connection with the recent death of the of its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC).

ERC Jose Vicente Salazar said all officials of the agency have been instructed to fully cooperate with the ongoing inquiry by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Commission on Audit (COA) into allegations made by the late Director Jose Francisco Villa in a supposed suicide note.

“They are also free to speak to news media when asked about the ERC project alluded to by Director Villa,” Salazar said. “What I have instructed them not to do is to defend the ERC against allegations at the expense of the reputation and memory of Director Villa.” Salazar added. “They are, however, free to answer questions and provide information both to the investigators and to the media on matters related to allegations against the ERC,” he underscored.

Earlier, ERC Bids Committee Vice  Teofilo G. Arbalate Jr. clarified that the “AVP project” supposedly referred to in the alleged Villa suicide note “was never awarded to any party and no contract has been signed in connection with it,” Arbalate explained that the “AVP project” is a proposed audio-visual material intended to help the ERC clarify its role in the power sector and how it performs its function. He pointed out that the ERC had initially allocated a budget of P300,000 for the project to cover both the creative and production requirements. “The project went through two biddings both of which failed,” Arbalate explained. Villa chaired both bidding processes.

Salazar approved the resolutions declaring the failure of bidding based on the recommendation of Villa, Arbalate explained. Arbalate said the first bidding for the P300,000-project failed because no bidder qualified. The Villa committee also recommended that the second bidding be declared a failure because his committee had not set a clear standard and criteria for determining the rating criteria. Arbalate said the creative director identified as Luis Morelos in the Villa letter did not participate in both biddings because he did not qualify.

Salazar also earlier clarified that the Villa bids committee “has nothing to do with the bidding for contracts for power supply.”  The Villa committee is concerned solely with the procurement of goods and services, including office supplies, Salazar said. The large contracts in the power sector, including power-supply agreements among power generators and distribution utilities go through bidding processes done by the private-industry players, he pointed out. The ERC has nothing to do with the bidding for those supply agreements, he said. The ERC’s role is to examine and determine the proposed rates at which the cost of the purchase of power supply is passed on to consumers, Salazar added. The Villa committee did not and never played a role in these processes, he said.

Salazar said he has requested the NBI and the COA to speed up the investigation. He also assured the Senate Committee on Energy of full cooperation when it starts the proposed hearing on the allegations made by Villa.