Published
April 20, 2017, 10:01 PM By Myrna M. Velasco
Laoag City – With
the ‘internal conflict” at the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) hitting
severe proportions, Malacañang is already being asked to “step in” to finally
resolve the mess that has inadvertently been befalling the entire power industry
and the Filipino consumers.
In an interview with
the media here, Senate committee on energy Chairman Sherwin T. Gatchalian noted
that since pieces of evidence are now available that could be set as reference
and guidance for decision, President Rodridgo Duterte through the Office of the
Executive Secretary, may already exercise authority just to restore stability
and prudence in a regulatory agency so critical to the viability of
billion-dollars worth of investments for such a vital commodity underpinning
the country’s economy.
“Malacañang, being the
appointing authority, will have the mandate to pursue this issue,” Gatchalian
said, emphasizing that with the issue already getting perilous for the entire
industry and the Filipino public, it has reached that level wherein the
President would already need to dip his hands into the matter.
President Duterte
previously sought the resignation of the ERC Chairman and all Commissioners on
allegations of corruption – an unintended aftermath of the suicide of one of
its officials, Director Francisco Villa. But that call from the President was
unheeded due to legal cover that the ERC officials had been able to lean on
their fixed term under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) and the
lack of outcome of the investigations on the suicide incident.
But for now, Gatchalian
indicated that “with the facts behind them because of the conclusion of the NBI
(National Bureau of Investigation) investigation, there’s already a case,” –
that was compared to not having the facts yet when the initial salvo of
controversy exploded.
The lawmaker stressed
“the appointing authority now has to start moving and we will also echo that
because our interest is really for the stability of the industry. And whatever
the facts are, that will be the basis for whatever the decision of Malacanang
will be.”
He added “the case has
already been filed, and I think the head of the office — which in this case is
Malacanang as the appointing office — should already exert effort and look into
this closely.”
From what it appears,
the Senate energy committee chair noted that the skirmish already shifted into
“fault-finding which is not correct because it destabilizes the entire
industry.”’
He said “their (ERC)
mission is to protect all of us, to ensure that rates and prices for consumers
are reasonable. What I fear is, their ‘personal bickerings’ could spill over to
the discussions at the Commission, so instead of building consensus, they would
just keep countering each other just for the sake of counteracting each other.”
Gatchalian emphasized
“the Commission is one of the most important pillars of the industry. If you
destabilize one pillar, the entire sector will be affected.”
He cited that if one
would glean at the pace of decisions on rate petitions at the ERC, most of
these are provisional approvals – and processes at the Commission are being
side tracked because of the lingering internal and leadership dispute.
“Industry investments
are set for the long-term. If you want long term investors to invest, we have
to see to it that the regulator is on solid ground and make sure that things
are moving fast,” he said.
He cited that investors
cannot just fork out billions worth of investments if they are just given
provisional approval on contracts,” asserting further that “if you don’t have
certainty, no bank would lend money for project financing.”
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