Catherine
Talavera (The Philippine Star) - August 19, 2018 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines —
Electric power stakeholders, particularly qualified end-users (QEs), should be
wary of falsified certificates of compliance (COCs), the Energy Regulatory
Commission said.
The warning was
issued following two cases filed by two qualified end-users with the
authorities against individuals who secured fake COCs.
“The ERC is currently coordinating with the law enforcers, who sought
our help, to track down the responsible persons for the production and issuance
of the falsified COCs. We were able to confirm the allegation about the
fake COCs after verifying our records,” ERC chairperson and CEO Agnes Devanadera
said.
The fictitious QE-COCs,
dated Aug. 23, 2017 and Feb. 2 this year, were issued to STMTCC-La Fiesta
Inc. and St. Therese MTC Colleges Tigbauan Inc.
The QE-COCs made use
of the previous ERC logo and bore the forged signature of commissioner Geronimo
Sta. Ana.
The respondent/s were
charged with violation of Article 172 in relation to Article 171
(Falsification) of Act 3815, as amended otherwise known as “The Revised Penal
Code.”
“Let this serve as a
word of caution to electric power industry stakeholders and to the unscrupulous
individuals as well, to stop this kind of illegal activity, which is falsifying
ERC documents particularly COC in this case,” Devanadera said.
With the process automation that is currently being put in place in ERC,
this can be easily detected now. Unlawful acts such as this taints the
ERC itself and the integrity of its officials who are simply performing their
duties. We encourage the public to report to the ERC or to the nearest
police authorities any illegal act of any electric power industry participant
to avoid proliferation of any kind of misconduct,” she added.
In June, the ERC
launched its eWISE (ERC Web Portal for Interactive and Systematic Exchange)
project, which aims to improve regulatory efficiency and effectiveness and to
better manage regulatory work.
The eWISE is an
interactive portal between regulated entities and the ERC to manage submissions
and track regular filings, requests for approvals and other requirements.
It aims to streamline
the regulatory processes necessary to achieve the zero backlog target, automate
data validation and ensure web portal security.
The project will provide for the automation of filing of
applications, electronic compilation of data, ease in comparison of data
submitted in different cases by the same entity, facilitate generation of
reports for pre and post analytics of regulatory policies and modified
paperless internal system.
It is also expected to address the its existing backlog to ensure that
the commitments and deliverables of the agency are met with professionalism and
efficiency
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