By Victor V. Saulon, Sub-Editor
THE four commissioners of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said there was no basis for the Ombdusman’s findings that resulted in the imposition of a three-month suspension as penalty for simple neglect of duty on the issue of bill deposits.
The commissioners, who said they were saddened by the order of the Office of the Ombudsman, maintained that there had never been any neglect of duty on their part.
“There are existing regulations put in place by the Commission regarding the bill deposit being enforced to protect the public. One of the regulations issued by the Commission is the Magna Carta of the Rights of Electricity Consumers (MREC) where the consumers are granted the right to demand the return of the deposit and the distribution utilities cannot ignore the said demand,” a statement sent by the commissioners’ legal counsel read.
“Notwithstanding the existence of these policies, the Commission has been evaluating them beforehand and have actually been working on the review of the policies in question,” it added.
The suspension came after consumer advocacy group National Association of Electricity Consumers of Reforms, Inc. (Nasecore), represented by its Executive Director Rafael Antonio M. Acebedo, filed a complaint of grave misconduct against the commissioners on Dec. 13, 2017.
The case stemmed from Nasecore’s allegation of “unauthorized use” by distribution utility Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) of the bill deposits of customers, unjust or discriminatory fixing of interest rates on them, as well as their non-crediting in favor of consumers.
The four ERC commissioners, Alfredo S. Non, Gloria Victoria C. Yap-Taruc, Josefina Patricia M. Asirit and Geronimo D. Sta. Ana, have filed a petition for temporary restraining order (TRO) against the suspension with the Court of Appeals. They are represented by lawyer Rolando B. Faller.
The statement read: “Hence as a result of the prior assessment and internal discussions in the Commission, the following were undertaken: On 30 May 2017, the Commission posted in its official website the initial draft ‘Rules to Govern the Monitoring and Reporting Process of Bill Deposits’, docketed as ERC Case No 2017-006 RM.”
“In the Commission’s Order dated 30 May 2017, all interested parties were requested to submit their comments on the said draft Rules on or before 15 June 2017,” it read.
“After considering all the comments submitted, the Commission issued the 2^nd draft ‘Rules to Govern the Monitoring and Reporting Process of Bill Deposits.’ Said 2^nd draft Rules were posted in the Commission’s website on 2 October 2017. In its “Notice” dated 2 October 2017, the Commission solicited comments from all interested parties giving them until 31 October 2017 to submit their comments,” it added.
In the intervening period, several letters and communications were exchanged between Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi and Undersecretary Petronilo “Pete” L. Ilagan to update them on the progress of the public consultations, the statement read. It described Mr. Ilagan as affiliated with Nasecore.
“All interested parties were directed to submit their comments (in both hard and soft copies) on the said draft Rules on or before May 11, 2018. Please note that the public consultations in Visayas and Mindanao were originally set on April 18 and 19, 2018, respectively, but the same were cancelled and reset to May 16 and 17, 2018 thru an Order dated April 12, 2018 due to conflicts in scheduling,” the statement read.
“As may be seen from the above narration, the Commission continues to work on the concern as well as other equally important and pressing issues under the Commission’s mandate,” the statement said, adding that “we continue to work towards resolving issues and concerns as well as anticipate needed reforms within our sphere of responsibility.”