Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chairperson and chief executive Monalisa Dimalanta proposed amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 to strengthen the agency and avoid any regulatory lag.
Dimalanta said over the weekend a complaint against, removal or suspension of a public official could “exacerbate the delay instead of improve or fast-track resolution.”
“While we understand the wisdom behind mechanisms for checks and balances in the bureaucracy, certain processes can result in serious disruptions in regulatory work that can worsen instead of improve the sectoral conditions subject of the complaint,” Dimalanta said.
Dimalanta was recently re-instated to her position after the Office of the Ombudsman issued an order dated Oct. 22, 2024 stating that “after a thorough evaluation of the present case records, this office finds that the ground which justifies the continued imposition of preventive suspension no longer exists.”
The Ombudsman said, “therefore, the preventive suspension is no longer necessary.”
“In more recent laws — like the Philippine Competition Act — the legislature has positively addressed this by granting qualified immunity from suit to the regulator for specific actions. This can perhaps be considered as well in the EPIRA amendments,” she said.
Dimalanta said public service exacts a very high price from public officials and employees—one that is paid not just by the official but by his/her family.
“The maximum six month-period as preventive suspension without pay under the Ombudsman Act is significantly higher than the maximum period provided under the Labor Code for private sector employees,” she said.
“It also makes it even more challenging to attract the best and the brightest to serve government, on top of the undeniable disparity in pay between government and the private sector, especially in the energy industry,” Dimalanta said.
Dimalanta said there is also a need to increase transparency in the actions of the ERC by posting notices of resolutions and actions taken after each commission meeting.
