UpdateThe Ombudsman has ordered the one-year suspension of all four commissioners of the Energy Regulatory Commission for allowing electric utilities like Manila Electric Company to forgo the bidding of their power supply requirements at the public’s expense. Since President Duterte already removed him from office in October for allegedly manipulating the procurement of small ERC contracts, the Ombudsman required him to pay a fine equivalent to six months’ salary. But on March 15, 2016, the ERC allowed a 45-day window deferring the CSP rule until April 30, 2016. The deferment of the CSP rule as a “deviation from respondents’ duty to promote public interest,” read the resolutions approved by Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Gerard Mosquera. The ERC officials claimed the regulator needed time to finalize the guidelines, but the Ombudsman bound it by the November 2015 effectivity date since the officials imposed this while “fully aware” of the supposed issue.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 21, 2017 08:00 UTC