Counterpoint: ERC chief vacating post, but vows to clear name
As reported by Ms. Lenie Lectura of the Business Mirror
THE Energy Regulator y Commission ( ERC) chief is temporarily vacating her post but vowed to exhaust all legal remedies to clear her name as she faces administrative charges before the Office of the Ombudsman.
A statement from the office of ERC chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta on Monday said she shall immediately cease to perform her functions as Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of the ERC.
Her office nonetheless said all operations of the agency “shall continue to function, to the extent possible and as required by the exigencies of service.”
e Office of the Executive Director of the ERC received on September 9 the order from the Office of the Ombudsman, preventively suspending Dimalanta from government service for six months without pay.
The Ombudsman directed the Office of the Executive Secretary to implement the suspension and to appoint an officer-in-charge of the ERC.
“When I left the office at 11a.m., there is no appointed OIC yet,” said Dimalanta in a Viber message.
To date, she has not been provided a copy of the complaint against her. Also, while the order contains details of the complaint, it does not provide information on the evidence submitted by the complainant that became the basis for the issuance of the preventive suspension order. “Chairperson Dimalanta and her lawyers are studying the matter in order to take all available legal remedies given the circumstances,” the ERC statement read.
The ERC caught the ire of lawmakers for the delays in resolving cases, but Dimalanta said her office has achieved a resolution rate of 67.32 percent from 2001 to 2023 despite the lack of manpower.
The ERC currently has 295 filled plantilla positions out of the 389 authorized plantilla positions. The cases filed with the ERC from 2001 to 2023 reached 2,439. Of which, 1,642 case have been resolved, based on latest available ERC data. There are 797 pending cases.
The ERC, without a chairperson, will likely be swamped with more unresolved cases, most of which are crucial to achieving a reliable, sustainable, and affordable power supply.
