Philippine
Daily Inquirer / 01:24 AM November 22, 2016
FACING
PROBE Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Jose Vicente B. Salazar (center),
shown in the agency’swebsite photowith Commissioners Geronimo D. Sta. Ana,
Alfredo J. Non, Gloria Victoria C. Yap-Taruc and Josefina PatriciaM. Asirit,
says only that he respected the President’s call for their resignation and that
he would “definitely take the appropriate actions that would protect the organization.”
LIMA/MANILA—President
Duterte on Sunday demanded the resignation of the entire Energy Regulatory
Commission (ERC) in the wake of the suicide of an official of the agency
allegedly under pressure to rig auctions of government contracts.
Some ERC commissioners,
however, said they would not resign as such a move would not be in the best
interest of the quasijudicial body.
ERC Director Francisco
Villa Jr. committed suicide in his home on Nov. 9, leaving behind a series of
suicide notes revealing corruption in the agency.
In one of the notes,
Villa wrote: “My greatest fear in the bids and awards committee is the AVP by
Luis Morelos which the chairman and CEO, Jose Vicente B. Salazar, chose through
a rigged selection system. That will be a criminal act.”
Mr. Duterte learned
about Villa’s suicide as he arrived in Lima, Peru, on Thursday night to attend
the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum.
On Saturday, Mr.
Duterte warned the ERC officials to prepare themselves.
“My source was a document.
Now it’s a matter of government lawyers assessing the case. They had better
pray,” he said.
In Manila, ERC chief
Salazar said he would ask for a meeting with Mr. Duterte to explain the
situation in the ERC to him.
“I am confident that
the proposed meeting with and briefing for the President would result in
clearer directions from him regarding the issues facing the ERC,” Salazar said.
Salazar, who was
appointed last year by then President Benigno Aquino III to a fixed seven-year
term as head of the ERC, offered no direct response to Mr. Duterte’s demand
that he and the commissioners resign, saying only that he respected the
President’s statement and that he would “definitely take the appropriate
actions that would protect the organization.”
Part of those actions
is “a request to the Commission on Audit to immediately probe the allegations”
of Villa and “our expression of support and full cooperation with the planned
inquiry by the Senate committee on energy,” he said.
Commissioners Alfredo
J. Non, Gloria Victoria C. Yap-Taruc, Josefina M. Asirit and Geronimo D. Sta.
Ana said they would not resign.
“Resignation would not
be in the best interest of the ERC,” they said.
As of press time,
Salazar had not stated categorically whether he would step down as demanded by
Mr. Duterte.
Investigation ordered
The President ordered
an investigation, though Malacañang could not say which agency would carry out
the probe.
Energy Secretary
Alfonso Cusi told the Inquirer on Monday that he had asked the National Bureau
of Investigation to look into the circumstances that led Villa to take his own
life. “We want to know what really happened,” Cusi said.
On Sunday, Mr. Duterte
said he had received and read reports about the controversy that followed
Villa’s death.
“I am demanding they
all resign,” the President said, referring to all officials of the ERC and
citing internal and intelligence reports indicating systemic corruption in the
agency.
Villa’s sister,
journalist Charie Villa, said the suicide notes showed that her brother had
been under stifling pressure to approve procurement contracts without bidding
or hire consultants as chair of the ERC’s bids and awards committee.
“They really abused the
[system] … just like in the past,” Mr. Duterte told reporters.
Security of tenure
The President appoints
the members of the ERC, but he cannot suspend or remove them from office, as
officials of the commission, which was created by law to regulate the country’s
electric power industry, enjoy security of tenure.
ERC officials, however,
may be removed from office for a just cause as specified by law.
Mr. Duterte said he
would ask Congress to either “disband” or “reorganize” the ERC and to file
charges against the erring officials.
“I leave it to the
implementer. All these officials will have a choice: I will demand from
Congress to disband the [ERC] or leave them without a budget, or file cases
simultaneously,” Mr. Duterte said.
In Manila, Cusi said he
would look at how Mr. Duterte’s order could be implemented, especially since
the ERC was created by law and abolishing it or folding it into the Department
of Energy would require an act of Congress.
A resolution has been
filed in the House of Representatives seeking an investigation of the
circumstances surrounding Villa’s death.
In House Resolution No.
565, Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy cited Villa’s suicide notes
in which he indicated that he was under pressure to “approve contracts without
proper bidding and adherence to procedure.”
She said Villa’s
suicide had “far-reaching implications” on the ERC and that the inquiry was
meant to “exact accountability and formulate remedial legislation in the name
of transparency and integrity.”
In a statement issued
on Monday, Villa’s sister thanked Mr. Duterte for his prompt response to the
family’s cry for justice.
“We the family of Jun
Villa are deeply and profoundly humbled and so grateful for the attention of
President Duterte to shed light over our tragic loss,” Charie Villa said. “We
thank the President for taking the first step toward reforms in the power
industry which will benefit consumers and the economy.” —with reports
from daxim l. lucas and vince f. nonato in manila
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