Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has advised the House of Representatives energy committee to look into the proposal of President Rodrigo Duterte to abolish the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) following the suicide of a director allegedly due to corruption.
In an interview with reporters on Tuesday, Alvarez said he has advised the energy committee to look into the allegations of corruption that compelled ERC Director Francisco Jose Villa Jr. to commit suicide.
READ: Suicide case linked to corruption in ERC | ERC official killed self over rampant office corruption – sister
“Pinag-aaralan na namin. I already advised the committee on energy para tingnan ‘yung ano, ‘yung paano natin i-address ‘yung problema diyan sa ERC,” Alvarez said.
(We are studying that option. I already advised the committee on energy to see to it how we could address the problem at the ERC.)
Sought for his reaction, Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, the chairperson of the energy committee, said the committee has started looking into the alleged anomalies in ERC, and that the committee is set to conduct a separate hearing to investigate the allegations of corruption.
“In our previous briefing at the Committee on Energy, the matter of anomalies in the ERC was already raised and the committee has decided to conduct a separate hearing dedicated to investigating said allegations of corruption and irregularities in the ERC,” Velasco said in a text message.
“We definitely need to study if there is truth to the allegations of anomalies because this goes into the very matter of the ERC’s role in the power sector,” he added.
Velasco said the investigation would aid the lawmakers with pieces of legislation, such as the proposal to amend the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) that created the ERC as the power regulatory body that seeks to promote competition, encourage market development, and penalize abuse of market power in the industry.
“Based on the findings of our investigation, we will have a better picture if we need to amend the Epira which created the ERC —whether to abolish the ERC or introduce provisions which will institutionalize safeguards that will make the ERC a better agency and more competent to fulfill its mandate of monitoring the activities in the generation and supply of the electric power industry with the end view of promoting free market competition,” Velasco said.
Villa, 54, on Nov. 9 took a .38 caliber revolver and shot himself fatally at the Parañaque City residence he shared with his sister, veteran broadcast journalist Charie Villa.
Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera Dy has filed a resolution urging Congress to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation on Villa’s suicide that was linked to the corruption in ERC.
READ: Solon calls for probe on ERC exec’s suicide linked to corruption
In his suicide note, Villa as Bids and Awards Committee chair pointed at the alleged rigged selection system for contracts in the ERC at the helm of the chairman and CEO Jose Vicente Salazar.
“My greatest fear in the bids and awards committee is the AVP by Luis Morelos which the chairman and CEO, Jose Vicente B. Salazar, chose through a rigged selection system. That will be a criminal act,” Villa wrote.
“I have fears about my BAC (bids and awards committee) work… Our mistakes may bring on [Commission on Audit] observations and disallowances. Those may affect me financially,” Villa added.
READ: Palace to probe ERC exec’s death
Villa’s sister Charie earlier said her brother was “pressured to approve contracts for procurements and hiring consultants without proper bidding and procedure as bids and awards committee chairman.”
READ: Duterte: I heard of ERC corruption even before Villa’s suicide | ERC officials defy Duterte, won’t resign
President Rodrigo Duterte had urged Salazar and other ERC officials to resign amid alleged rampant corruption in the commission, and even called on Congress to dissolve or reorganize the ERC as the state power regulator.
ERC Chair Salazar has sought an audience with the President to clarify the issue, and vowed to take “appropriate actions that would protect the organization.” But Salazar and other ERC officials refused to heed the president’s orders for them to resign. JE
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