Two party-list lawmakers have sought a congressional inquiry into the alleged conflict of interest and serious irregularities hounding Energy Assistant Secretary Redentor Delola, including his alleged bias in favor of a power distribution utility.
In a draft resolution, Reps. Francisco Datol Jr. and Teodoro Montoro, urged the House of Representatives Committee on Good Government to probe Delola with the end in view of removing him from office over the alleged irregularities.
“There has been reports that Asec. Delola, being a former executive in a power company, has been bias in favor of power suppliers as such an immediate investigation is required to avoid further derogation of authority and abuse by Asec. Delola,” the two lawmakers said in the draft resolution.
They stressed “the need to remove these irregularities at the DOE from arising again in the future.”
Datol and Montoro noted that in the draft resolution that Delola worked with Aboitiz Power Distribution Utility (APDU) since 2014 prior to his appointment as DOE assistant secretary.
“Asec. Delola is favoring his previous employer which also owns the Western Mindanao Power Corp.(WMPC) power plants. WMPC is owned by Aboitiz Group of Companies, a clear case of conflict of interest which resulted to grave damage to public interest,” they said.
However, DOE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said Delola “has been consistently fair in his dealings” as assistant secretary.
“The direction given to him and to all of us in the DOE is to be fair and make sure that the consumers are fully protected. Be that as it may, the DOE will be mindful of the observations from the Congress and the public in general in order to improve our services to the people,” Fuentebella told the Standard.
The solons also noted in the draft resolution that, “it is the policy of the State to promote the ideals of Good Governance in all its branches, departments, agencies, subdivisions, and instrumentalities, including government-owned and/or -controlled corporations and local government units.”
They said the Department of Energy being “the government agency in charge of the over-all policies on energy security and reliability in the country” should not tolerate the alleged irregularities allegedly committed by Delola.
Datol and Montoro specifically cited in inits resolution that “the NEA [National Electrification Administration] has been specifically given the power to “supervise the management and operations of all electric cooperatives.”
“There are various government agencies charged by the EPIRA to manage the electricity industry by way of issuing policies to private sector energy participants to ensure the adequate and affordability of power supply in the country,” the draft resolution stated.
They added “the authority granted to Asec. Delola runs counter to the mandate of the EPIRA in privatizing the power industry and devolving functions to the appropriate government agencies to oversee the energy industry.”
“The concentration of power and its undue delegation thereof, and worse, its unlawful exercise where he imputed supposed violations and its investor-manager despite admitting an incomplete audit of the power situation,” they added.
