Duterte names new ERC commissioner, NYC chair

President Rodrigo Duterte has filled in one of the two vacancies in the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), an agency that has been dogged by allegations of corruption and misconduct of its officials.

Duterte on August 23 appointed Davao-based lawyer Alexis Lumbatan as ERC commissioner, replacing Gloria Victoria Taruc who bowed out of service on July 10 after she completed her seven-year term.

Lumbatan will serve as ERC commissioner until July 2025, according to the appointment paper released by Malacañang on Tuesday.

The President has yet to name the successor of retired ERC commissioner Alfredo Non.

Taruc, Non, and incumbent ERC commissioners Josefina Patricia Magpale-Asirit and Geronimo Sta. Ana were ordered suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman for three months for simple neglect of duty.

The Palace in July directed ERC Chairperson Agnes Devanadera to implement the suspension order, which the officials questioned before the Court of Appeals. 

The suspension order stemmed from the complaint filed by the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc. (NASECORE) which had accused the ERC officials and the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) of syndicated estafa over the "unauthorized use" of consumers' bill deposits and the "unjust or discriminatory fixing of interest return" on the deposits.

These commissioners had previously been meted a one-year suspension in connection with allegedly anomalous transactions involving power generation companies affiliated with Meralco.

But the one-year suspension was stayed by the appellate court early this year to avoid the disruption of ERC services in the absence of replacements for the four officials.

Also on Tuesday, the Palace released the appointment papers of Commission on Elections Commissioner Antonio Kho Jr. and Duterte Youth Movement leader Ronald Gian Cardema as National Youth Commission chairperson.

Cardema had been the officer-in-charge of the youth agency following the resignation of NYC chairperson Ice (formerly Aiza) Seguerra in March. — MDM, GMA News