Noy urged to decide on ERC chief’s case

MANILA, Philippines - Party-list group Akbayan pressed President Aquino yesterday to decide on the administrative complaint it has filed against alleged Napoles agent and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chief Zenaida Ducut.

It made the appeal in the wake of the revelation of suspected pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim- Napoles in her unsigned affidavit that Ducut served as one of her agents who solicited pork barrel funds from senators and congressmen.

The ERC chief was a Pampanga congresswoman before then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo appointed her as chief regulator of the power sector. Arroyo now occupies the seat Ducut vacated.    

“The Palace should hasten its investigation against Ducut and immediately come out with a decision. The strong evidence of her involvement in the pork barrel scam only further strengthens our argument that she cannot be trusted with a highly sensitive public office or any public position for that matter,” Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello said.

Citing the financial records of principal whistle-blower Benhur Luy, Bello said the ERC chief supposedly collected cash advances for Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago and earned millions in commissions from pork barrel funds coursed through the Department of Transportation and Communications, Technology Resource Center (TRC) and the Department of Agriculture.

He said the former Pampanga congresswoman could not continue to lead ERC with such accusations that have damaged her credibility and integrity.