Congressmen raised concern over the autonomy of Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines as the operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, which acts as the country’s trading floor of electricity.
Rep. Jericho Nograles of party-list Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta scrutinized the independence of IEMOP from the government, including its operating agreement with former WESM operator Philippine Electricity Market Corp.
“Looking at the operating agreement between IEMOP and PEMC, I find it highly irregular that the incorporators are also the signatories [of the operating agreement],” Nograles, who serves as the House energy committee vice chairman, said during a recent hearing.
PEMC transferred to IEMOP, through an operating agreement, the operation of WESM on Sept. 26, 2018, but Nograles said the transfer did not undergo public hearing. He also questioned the P7,000 capitalization of IEMOP.
Nueva Ejica Rep. Rosanna Vergara said Congress should have been involved in the creation of the IEMOP.
Vergara said a public hearing should have been held that is “transparent and accountable, so that the Filipino consumers know that there is no such thing as ‘lutong macao’ happening in our industry.”
Vergara looked into the background of newly-appointed IEMOP president and chief executive Richard Nethercott who was appointed last month.
Nethercott said during the hearing that he is married to an assistant secretary of the Energy Department but claimed that he sought a legal opinion from IEMOP prior to accepting the post. The board, however, assured him there was no conflict of interest.
He said National Transmission Corp. president Melvin Matibag was also married to one of the incorporators of IEMOP, but she resigned.
Vergara said the said relationships put into question the independence of IEMOP and could be in violation of the Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft Law.
“The independence is already subject to question, whatever you say,” Vergara told Nethercott.
PEMC earlier assured that the transfer of the WESM operations to IEMOP went through consultations, studies and relevant approvals.
The DOE asked both PEMC and IEMOP to submit a performance report as part of the ongoing review of the WESM operations.