A MILITANT lawmaker has threatened to file charges against officials of the Energy Regulatory Commission for failure to present the report on its findings why electricity rates had been jacked up during the 2013 Malampaya shutdown.
Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate said ERC officials were guilty of “obstructing the people’s desire for justice and fairer practices in public utilities” when they refused to release the report on what he described as “conspiracy to raise power rates through such a shutdown.”
“ERC executives can be charged under Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Section 3, Paragraph E, for injury to the public and Paragraph F for failing to resolve a pending matter before them,” Zarate warned.
“This has gone far enough. It has been three years since the Malampaya shutdown happened and the Filipino people were about to bear the brunt of the highest power rate hike in history should there be no case filed before the Supreme Court questioning it,” Zarate said.
Zarate said now that Malampaya shut down again and the Manila Electric Company would want additional charges despite the absence of the final report on the alleged collusion between the ERC and the Meralco on the Malampaya shutdown in 2013.
“They are indeed being remiss of their sworn duty and it can be traced to former ERC Chairperson Zenaida Ducut and is now being continued by the current board. Is not doing their job a tradition of the ERC leadership? With this kind of board leadership, it is no wonder that corruption charges are being leveled at them left and right,” Zarate said.
“This has taken far too long and the people do not want to be taken hostage by the collusion of energy players while the regulatory body tasked to guard them is not only dilly dallying but may also be involved in covering it up,” Zarate argued.
ERC chairman Jose Vicente Salazar has been implicated in corruption cases—which prompted him to take a one-month leave of absence.