Noy: Palace probe vs ERC chief still ongoing

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino assured the public yesterday that Malacañang is looking into the complaint against Energy Regulatory Commission chief Zenaida Ducut for allegedly allowing an increase in electricity rates without investigating it first.

In an interview with reporters in Pasay City, Aquino said the complaint is being “studied and scrutinized” by Deputy Executive Secretary Michael Aguinaldo.

Earlier, a party-list group asked the Palace to investigate Ducut for supposedly abandoning her duty to protect consumers from a power rate hike. 

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said earlier this month that a newly created division was handling the complaint. It turned out to be the Investigative and Adjudicatory Division of the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs, which replaced the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission. 

Various government agencies had also been tasked to look into the alleged collusion among power generators to spike prices of supply that led to higher electricity rates. 

Coloma said it would be up to Ducut to take a leave of absence or resign due to the complaint against her. 

But Ducut, who is implicated in the pork barrel scam, stood her ground, saying she would not resign because she did not do anything wrong.