ERC chair Salazar sued for misconduct by colleagues

By: Marc Jayson Cayabyab - 8 years ago

Jose Vicente Salazar, ERC chairman and CEO. PDI FILE PHOTO

Commissioners in the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on Wednesday sued their chairperson Jose Vicente Salazar for dishonesty, oppression and grave misconduct for appointing officials without the consent of his colleagues.

Salazar is in hot water over alleged corruption in the power regulatory firm, an issue which apparently compelled one official to commit suicide.

READ: Suicide case linked to corruption in ERC

In a complaint affidavit filed before the Civil Service Commission, commissioners Alfredo Non, Gloria Victoria Yap-Taruc, Josefina Patricia Magpale-Asirit and Geronimo Sta Ana accused Salazar of misconduct for making appointments and reassignments without the consent of the commission.

The commissioners cited Salazar’s appointment of Ronaldo Gomez as officer in charge-executive director while he was on leave. Gomez is the Chief Energy Regulation Officer at the ERC Mindanao Field Office.

The commissioners said Salazar appointed Gomez even though the next in line should be the current ERC directors: Atty. Floresinda Baldo-Digal, Atty. Debora Anastacia Layugan, and Atty. Maria Corazon Gines.

Salazar’s appointment of Gomez thus bypassed the directors who are next in rank, in violation of the implementing rules and regulations of the Republic Act 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act which prescribes the order of priority among officials, the complaint read.

The commissioners said Salazar should be preventively suspended so as to prevent him from tampering with evidence while the complaint is pending against him.

The commissioners noted Salazar’s propensity to conceal documents. Salazar allegedly hid his own order recommending commissioner Sta. Ana as his OIC which was earlier submitted to support his travel authority but is now missing in the ERC docket.

“Thus, this clearly shows that Salazar has the tendency to manufacture or conceal documents in his favor. As such, he should be temporarily removed from the office while the complaint is pending to prevent him from further tampering with evidence,” the complaint read.

Salazar also violated CSC Memorandum Circular No. 6 series of 2005 when he appointed his cousin Esteban Lorenzo Jose Riva as his head executive assistant even though the latter only holds a co-terminus position and thus is not eligible to hold a permanent position.

The said memorandum circular states that designated employees should hold permanent appointments to career positions.

Salazar also appointed and promoted certain officials even though they do not meet the qualifications, in violation of various CSC memorandum circulars, the complaint read.

Salazar appointed Neil Simon Silva as executive director, Alfredo Vergara Jr. as legal service director, as well as Nathan Marasigan and Prescia Vanessa Reynante-Reynoso as division chiefs, even though they are not qualified due to lack of necessary career executive eligibilities and their failure to meet the minimum qualification standards.

Salazar even promoted Atty. Grace Lu-Santos even though the latter failed to meet the required performance rating, the complaint added.

In sum, the commissioners said the beleaguered ERC chairperson put upon himself the power to appoint officials without the consent of the rest of the commissioners, in violation of Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira), which puts upon the entire commission the power to appoint and not just on one person.

“The Epira did not exclusively bestow on the chairman of the ERC the power to appoint the Executive Director and the members of the technical staff. Thus, the power to appoint them is still lodged with the Commission,” the complaint read.

“However, Chairman Salazar in his capacity as Chief Executive Officer has been solely exercising this power to appoint, deliberate excluding the other members of the Commission,” the complaint added.

Salazar has been accused of rigging an ERC audiovisual project to a friend Luis Morelos of FatFree Inc., an alleged corrupt act which was mentioned in the suicide letter of director Francisco Jose “Jun” Villa Jr.

The National Bureau of Investigation has sued him for graft over the rigged infomercial project.

READ: NBI files graft complaint against ERC chief, three others

During an inquiry in the House of Representatives, Salazar admitted he is friends with Morelos who was awarded the contract for the concept-making of ERC’s audio-visual presentation (AVP) that was split into four terms of reference at P375,000 each in a bid to avoid public bidding.

READ: Jun Villa’s sister tears up in House probe on ERC corruption

In his suicide note, Villa as then the BAC chair pointed at the alleged rigged selection system for contracts in the ERC at the helm of Salazar.

READ: House probe on Villa suicide over ERC corruption turns emotional

“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 veteran journalist Charie Villa 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.”

President Rodrigo Duterte has 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.

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