The Court of Appeals (CA) has directed Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta to inhibit from participating in the proceedings for the resolution of the rate application of National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
Acting on the petition for certiorari filed by NGCP, the Special 11th Division of the CA, in a Decision dated April 30, 2025, granted the motion for inhibition, further ruling that Dimalanta “should have recused herself from further participating” in the 4th Regulatory Period (RP) Reset Application of the country’s transmission grid operator.
“We find that respondent gravely abused her discretion when she refused to inhibit from the proceedings a quo despite her evident bias and partiality against the petitioner,” the Decision stated.
Prior to escalating the case to the CA, the ERC failed to act on nine Motions for Reconsideration and Motions to Resolve filed by NGCP in 2023.
In seeking certiorari, NGCP cited Dimalanta’s a series of public statements that demonstrated she already prejudged its 4th RP Reset Application even before the said application had been filed, as evidenced by news articles citing that NGCP rates are expected to go down.
NGCP averred that Dimalanta’s declarations showed that “she already had a preconceived result in mind, that is, the reduction of transmission charges” and her inaction on the motions filed displayed bias and prejudice against the petitioner.
In the decision, the Court recognized that Dimalanta was fully aware that NGCP had yet to file its 4th RP Reset Application when she made public statements, which proved that she had already prejudged the result of the proceedings.
“Respondent could not be expected to render a fair judgment when she already has an outcome in mind, waiting only to be formalized after petitioner undergoes the charade of formal hearing. By issuing premature public statements, respondent somehow deprived petitioner of its right to a fair and impartial administrative process,” a part of the decision read.
In September 2022, the ERC issued the Rules for Setting Transmission Wheeling Rates, where NGCP was required to submit its expenditures under its 4th RP Reset covering the years 2016 to 2022. In October 2022, Dimalanta held a press briefing on the expected result of the reset process. NGCP filed its 4th RP Reset Application in December 2022.
