By
BusinessMirror - October 9, 2017
The Energy Regulatory
Commission (ERC) on Monday said it has received from Malacañang a
copy of the dismissal order of the agency’s chairman Jose Vicente B. Salazar.
“We confirm receipt of
the decision from the Office of the President [OP] on the administrative case
against ERC Chairman Salazar,” ERC Spokesman Rexie Digal said.
The order dated October
6 stated that Salazar was found guilty of simple and grave misconduct
in connection to corruption charges.
“This Office finds
[Salazar] guilty of two counts of simple misconduct and one count of grave
misconduct, and hereby imposes upon him the penalty of dismissal from the
service with all accessory penalties,” the two-page order signed by Executive
Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea said.
The ERC, which is
composed of four commissioners and one chairman, said it remains committed
to fulfilling its mandate. “As we have always assured the public from the time
these investigations started last year, the ERC remains committed to faithfully
performing its mandate under the law, despite and inspite of these
administrative challenges,” Digal said.
Commissioner Alfredo
Non has been appointed officer in charge (OIC). The other commissioners
are Gloria Victoria Yap-Taruc, Josefina Patricia Magpale-Asirit and
Geronimo Sta. Ana. All four have earlier asked the OP to make permanent
Salazar’s preventive suspension and move for his removal from office.
It can be recalled that
Salazar was earlier placed under preventive suspension by Malacañang in
May, which was extended in August for four more months.
Salazar came under fire
when he was linked to the death of ERC Director Francisco S. Villa Jr. who
took his own life. Villa accused Salazar of preselecting a bidder to undertake
the audio-visual presentation project.
The commissioners
initiated an internal inquiry after Salazar went on a personal leave for a
month. However, the inquiry did not sit well with Salazar, who confronted the
commissioners and demanded to stop the said inquiry. This strained the
relationship between the commissioners and Salazar.
Salazar faces charges
of serious dishonesty, gross neglect of duty, grave misconduct and gross
insubordination, among various administrative offenses.
His suspension, which
took effect on May 2, stemmed from the complaint which accused him of
deceiving Malacañang in filing his travel authority and designating somebody
without proper authority as OIC while he was abroad.
Based on ERC Office
Order 72 dated April 7, Salazar designated lawyer, Ronaldo Gomez as OIC of
the agency while he is on leave from April 9 to 25. Gomez is currently the
agency’s executive director.
The
commissioners objected to this. Among others, they cited a January 24
order from Malacañang that commissioner Sta. Ana was designated as OIC of the
ERC for the period April 9 to 25 and May 11 to 15.
Salazar has since
denied any wrongdoing.
Malacañang, however,
said “all elements of corruption, clear intent to violate the law and flagrant
disregard of established rule have been sufficiently demonstrated….
Accordingly, this Office finds Salazar guilty of grave misconduct,” the
decision read.
Meanwhile, Salazar’s
acts of issuing orders relative to the renewal of power contracts, as well as
appointing ERC officers and personnel without the concurrence and approval
of the ERC commissioners, constitute simple misconduct.
The rules provide that
if the respondent is found guilty of two or more different offenses, the
penalty to be imposed should be that corresponding to the most serious offense.
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