‘Energy cops’ invade government offices

The "energy cops" have made their first bust.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) garnered a five-star mark while the Department of Land Reform (DLR) barely made the grade as government’s energy conservation authorities paid a surprise visit yesterday to government offices along the Quezon City elliptical road amid the looming energy crisis.

The DA got a grade 94 percent from the self-styled "energy cops," led by Energy Undersecretary Peter Anthony Abaya and Senior Deputy Secretary and Energy Auditor Walden Flores, while the DLR rated 71 percent, or one percent higher than the passing grade. 

The government enforcers have yet to give a grade to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Abaya and Flores personally handed over the grade to DLR officer-in-charge Nasser Pangandaman, which was later posted at the lobby of the agency.

The 71-percent grade will remain posted in the DLR lobby and should not be removed pending another evaluation on the compliance of the department by the Energy Auditor.

Abaya, however, declined to announce the date of their next visit to the DLR but hinted that it could be after one week or two weeks.

"The poor ratings need a lot of improvement," Flores told Pangandaman and other DLR officials, following the surprise inspection.

DLR Undersecretary for Finance, Management and Administration Jeffrey Galan was subsequently tasked to take charge of the agency’s energy conservation efforts.

Based on the findings of the energy conservation team, the DLR failed to comply with President Arroyo’s Feb. 9 memorandum on the use of Coconut Methyl Ester (CME) or biodiesel fuel in all its government diesel-fed service vehicles.

According to Abaya, the DLR also failed to use CFL and slim-type fluorescent light bulbs; and failed to turn off all air-conditioning units by 4 p.m., among other violations.

For his part, Pangandaman assured the energy auditing team that the DLR would be able to comply with the energy conservation efforts of the government.

He said the DLR had just begun its energy conservation efforts, so far garnering 27-percent savings on energy consumption.

On the use of CFL light bulbs, the DLR said that a bidding process on the purchase of the item is delaying quick implementation of the scheme.

A bidding process is a requirement for all government agencies prior to the purchase of any item or equipment.

The other day, the energy cops visited the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which obtained 70-percent grade in its energy conservation efforts.

The BSP is the government agency that has so far been given the lowest mark by the energy conservation team.