THE Palace on Tuesday insinuated that defiant officials of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) who have refused to resign have failed to meet President Rodrigo Duterte’s moral standards on corruption, and should step down before the President resorts to other legal remedies to have them removed.
In a press briefing, Communications Assistant Secretary Ana Marie Banaag said that while ERC officials do have fixed terms—fraudulent acts within the commission are unacceptable, hence the President’s call for their voluntary resignation.
“The President is asking the ERC officials to resign, and some of them have made their positions clear. We understand that the ERC officials have fixed terms of office and that is the very reason why the President is exercising moral suasion for these officials to voluntarily resign,” Banaag said.
ERC commissioners have a five-year fixed term while the chairman has seven years in office.
ERC Commissioners Ina Asirit, Alfredo Non and Gloria Victoria Taruc have all said they won’t resign so as not to create a vacuum that would affect the agency’s work, while a fourth commissioner, Geronimo Sta. Ana, has not issued a statement.
ERC chairman Jose Vicente Salazar meanwhile, said he is waiting for Duterte to return from Peru “to give him a fuller picture of the current developments at the ERC.”
Banaag warned that the President might resort to other legal means to effect their dismissal should they defy his verbal warning.
“We have other remedies, according to the law and he is asking them to resign because of the alleged corruption issues. There are other remedies — investigation is one, even preventive suspension. The President even raised other options ,” she added.
On Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday demanded the resignation of ERC officials after reports of rampant corruption, triggered by the suicide of the agency’s director, Francisco Jose Villa Jr., over pressure to rig government contracts.
Duterte said that he had read the internal and intelligence reports that pointed to anomalies and abuse of position, and warned that if the ERC commissioners would not resign , he will ask Congress to either withhold the ERC’s budget or disband the agency altogether.
The Manila Electric Co. on Tuesday denied any links to allegations of corruption at the ERC.
Meralco head of legal William Pamintuan said the company’s power supply agreements were filed “in accordance with existing ERC rules and regulation, which go through a very transparent and rigorous public hearing process.”
A lawmaker has alleged there was a link between Meralco’s contracts and Villa’s suicide last November 9.
“These power supply agreements are not part of the matters being taken up by the Bids and Award Committee of the ERC which actually deals with internal contracts and procurement at the ERC,” Pamintuan said.
Meralco signed supply agreements with seven power generators in April to buy 3,551 megawatts of power. With Alena Mae Flores
