Philippines: ERC officials stand firm in the face of abolition threats

Philippines: ERC officials stand firm in the face of abolition threats

Beleaguered officials of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) are still
hoping for a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte, in the hopes he doesn't
follow through on threats to abolish the agency amid allegations of
corruption.

"We have made formal and informal requests for a meeting with the President,
but so far there is no date yet," ERC Spokesperson Rexie Digal said in an
interview on Thursday.

Digal stressed the ERC was taking the President's warnings seriously but
officials have not heeded calls to resign. She said they could explain the
"full picture of developments" to Duterte if given a chance.

When asked whether ERC Chair and CEO Jose Salazar could assure the President
that the agency followed due process in public biddings, Digal said, "Yes."

In a separate statement, Salazar also said he was "confident" that a meeting
would "result in clearer directions... regarding the issues facing the ERC."

Officials didn't elaborate, however, on what they would do if Duterte
refused to grant them an audience. The President himself has said he would
abolish the ERC if the officials didn't resign.

"We don't want to second-guess what will happen," Digal said.

She just warned that scrapping the agency would have far-reaching
consequences, especially to consumers.

"The ERC is responsible for setting the rates for electricity, implementing
the standards for the provision of electricity, and basically regulating the
entire industry," she said.

The ERC has come under fire after its Director, Jun Villa, committed suicide
early this month. In a series of notes, Villa - who chaired the ERC's bids
and awards committee - said was being pressured to rig the selection process
for various projects.

In one letter, Villa claimed a certain Luis Morelos had been handpicked to
bag a project to produce an audio-visual (AVP) presentation for the ERC,
even though the bidding had failed twice.

He tagged no less than Salazar, the ERC chief, as the one behind the
rigging.

In another letter, Villa also mentioned "Iloilo contracts" that a certain
"E.D." had signed for. No other details were available.

The ERC has vowed to fully cooperate with all investigations, even
requesting the Commission on Audit to conduct a probe on the contested AVP
deal.

According to Digal, the National Bureau of Investigation has begun its own
investigation, interviewing some ERC staff in the previous days.

Legislators from both the House of Representatives and the Senate have also
vowed to launch their own inquiries, not just into the ERC, but also into
the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 which created it.

Nevertheless, ERC officials said the AVP project was never awarded and
claimed Morelos didn't even participate in the bids.

Salazar assured Villa only managed the bids for smaller, internal projects,
typically to procure goods and services for the agency.

Contrary to reports, the director was not involved in much larger contracts
like "power supply agreements between distribution utilities/electric
cooperatives and generation companies," Salazar said.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Link to Original Article:
http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2016/11/24/energy-regulatory-commission-offic
ials-stand-firm-in-the-face-of-abolition-threats.html

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com