Wanted DOE Undersecretary; Qualification: No energy stint

PETILLA

Manila Bulletin 

By Myrna M. Velasco 

Published: July 30, 2013 

Amid fledgling implementations of energy policies, the scouting spree for a new undersecretary to oversee the affairs of the electric power industry will center on an individual who is “still inexperienced and should have no knowledge about the energy sector.”
Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla divulged to reporters in a briefing that he prefers tapping an undersecretary who is a “non-energy person.”
To him, that could mean breaking conventions so the appointive official can start on a clean slate, but for the industry, it could set off distress because they will be dealing with an authority who might eternally be on a learning curve.
Stakeholders in various energy industries have long been distraught with the manner of appointments being done in the Department of Energy DOE) and some of its attached agencies – which could be a manifestation of the government’s appalling disregard of such an important sector.
While President Aquino rebuked some agencies which are having “below par performance” in his State of the Nation Address (SONA), he is obviously clueless on how some government-energy firms have been managing their affairs.
For one, the biddings for continuing privatization of the power assets being undertaken by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation all ended in ‘failed processes.’ The company’s other mandate on liability management has not also been faring well.
Petilla, however, defended the appointment of incoming National Power Corporation (NPC) president Gladys Cruz-Sta.Rita, noting that “she gained energy sector experience via her stint as board director of PNOC (Philippine National Oil Company)” and that will be reinforced by her wide-range exposure with local government affairs.
Sta. Rita will be on board at NPC starting August 1 this year replacing Froilan Tampinco who recently retired from the power firm.
The spotlight of appointments in the energy sector is similarly focused on the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) with the entry of former Energy Undersecretary Josefina Patricia M. Asirit as new ERC Commissioner.
Malacañang’s announcement of her appointment highlighted her blood relations with Cabinet Secretary Rene D. Almendras and as a daughter of Cebu vice governor Agnes Magpale, who is also Almendras’s sister.
For the other ERC commissioner post, it was gathered that an ‘energy sector insider’ might get the appointment, but it might entail some slight movement in the DOE family.
Meanwhile, sources from the Palace divulged that Asirit’s application for the ERC Commissioner post was recommended by Petilla through a letter he sent to Malacanang last May. The energy chief reportedly cited Asirit as instrumental “behind EPIRA’s (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) successful implementation,” primarily on the implementation of retail competition and open access in the industry.  source