(UPDATE) ENERGY Regulatory Commission (ERC) Chairman Monalisa Dimalanta has returned to her post after Malacañang lifted the order that temporarily removed her as ERC chief.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin confirmed that Dimalanta has been reinstated as chairman and chief executive officer of the ERC.
Bersamin, in a memorandum dated October 31, 2024, cited an order from the Office of the Ombudsman dated Oct. 22, lifting Dimalanta’s suspension.
ERC Chairman Monalisa Dimalanta. PHOTO: MIKE ALQUINTO
The case against Dimalanta was filed by the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc. (Nasecore).
Dimalanta temporarily left the power industry regulator after the Ombudsman ordered a six-month preventive suspension against her for alleged grave misconduct, grave abuse of authority, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
Nasecore claimed that Dimalanta permitted the Manila Electric Co. to buy electricity from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market and pass the charges on to consumers without securing the ERC’s approval.
The group said Dimalanta violated the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.
Dimalanta, who was appointed to the ERC in 2022, has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to reconsider its decision.
She maintained that the grounds for her suspension are moot because the ERC has made a decision on the issue raised against her.
The Ombudsman, in its Oct. 22 order, said that “after a thorough evaluation of the present case records, this Office finds that the ground which justifies the continued imposition of preventive suspension no longer exists. Therefore, the preventive suspension is no longer necessary.”
Dimalanta’s tenure as ERC chief is until July 2029.
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