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Punay (The Philippine Star) - June 19, 2018 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines —
The four Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) officials ordered suspended
anew by the Office of the Ombudsman have once again sought relief from the
Court of Appeals (CA).
In a 41-page petition
filed last June 13, ERC commissioners Alfredo Non, Gloria Victoria
Yap-Taruc, Josefina Patricia Asirit and Geronimo Sta. Ana asked the appellate
court to reverse and set aside the second suspension order recently issued by
the ombudsman against them.
They also sought
issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping the implementation of
the order suspending them from office for three months without pay
upon complaint filed by consumer group National Association of
Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc. (Nasecore).
The same commissioners
secured a TRO from the CA earlier this year that enjoined the earlier one-year
suspension order issued by the ombudsman against them for favoring several
power firms from a competitive selection process (CSP) meant to determine the
best price for consumers.
Just like in the previous case, the four ERC officials accused the anti-graft
office of grave abuse of discretion when it penalized them for an action that
the same office said is not illegal.
The ombudsman found the
commissioners guilty of simple neglect of duty for tolerating the
misuse of Bill Deposits (BDs) by allowing its commingling with the capital or
operation cost of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) contrary to the purpose for
which the BD was established – as guarantee for the payment of bills.
But in their petition, the
ERC executives alleged that the ombudsman’s findings were simply absurd.
“The finding of the
ombudsman against the petitioners that they tolerated the misuse of Bill
Deposit is inconsistent with its finding that receipt of bill deposit creates a
creditor-debtor relationship, thus, its commingling with the capital of the
distribution utility is legal,” read the petition.
“If the ombudsman is of
the view that a loan was created between Meralco and its consumers on the bill
deposit, how can it then conclude that petitioners ‘tolerated’ its
‘misuse’ when her characterization thereof betrays any act of misuse? Indeed,
as the debtor of the money used for bill deposit, Meralco is allowed to use it
or commingle it with its other funds because when ownership over a thing is
transferred, the owner has all the rights to enjoy or dispose it,” it stressed.
The ombudsman has also
faulted petitioners after they continuously refrained from strictly
implementing rules defining the nature of BDs as “mere guarantee in payment of
bills,” which must be returned upon termination of the distribution utility’s
service.
In issuing the assailed
suspension order, the ombudsman was acting on the complaint for syndicated
estafa and grave misconduct against the ERC commissioners as well as
Meralco executives over the alleged unauthorized use and utilization of
consumers’ BDs by the distribution utilities, the discriminatory fixing of
interests by the ERC and the non-crediting by Meralco of the interests earned
by the BDs deposits in favor of the consumers.
Although the criminal
charge was dismissed for insufficiency of evidence, the ombudsman referred
to the Commission on Audit the conduct of an audit on the BDs collected by
Meralco from public consumers.
The original case
stemmed from allegations that the ERC officials gave due preference
to Meralco and its power supply agreements with affiliated power generation
companies by extending the deadline for compliance of the CSP.
The suspension of four
commissioners will stall development in the energy sector, which should pave
way for immediate reforms in the country’s power industry watchdog, officials
said yesterday.
“ERC needs the
commissioners to function. We can’t afford to delay the power projects. Future
consequences will be a big blow to our consumers and economy,” Energy Secretary
Alfonso Cusi said.
The ERC is waiting for
the Office of the President to implement the ombudsman’s order before taking
any action.
Since this is the
second time the ERC commissioners were ordered suspended, Sen. Sherwin
Gatchalian said it is high time that the commission be reformed to restore its
institutional integrity.
“It’s really about time
to reform the ERC governance structure,” he said.
The lawmaker is
sponsoring the passage of the ERC Governance Act which seeks to de-concentrate
power within the ERC and by compelling the body to be more open and transparent
in its decision-making processes. – With Paolo Romero, Danessa Rivera
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