Appoint temporary ERC commissioners, govt urged

President Rodrigo Duterte has been urged to appoint temporary commissioners for the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to avoid a power vacuum within its management and to ensure there will be no power interruptions throughout the Philippines, a Department of Energy (DoE) official said on Wednesday.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi “wrote a letter to the Office of the President [OP] to look into the possibility of appointing temporary commissioners,” Energy Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said in a chance interview after a DoE news briefing on the new excise tax on petroleum products.