29 JANUARY 2024 | In the spirit of collaboration and to streamline the process of issuing Certificate of Compliance (COC) to Generation Companies (GENCOs), Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta together with the officers of the Marketing Operation Services – Licensing Division of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) tapped the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to discuss ways on how to efficiently facilitate the processing of applications for energy projects particularly on sites near or within Ancestral Domains.

The ERC recognizes and respects the right to Ancestral Domains/Lands of the ICCs/IPs, specifically their right to ownership. Hence, pre-requisite to the issuance of COC, GENCOs are required to submit a Certificate of Non-Overlap (CNO) or Certificate Precondition (CP) issued by NCIP.

In the meeting, concerns of the GENCOs were raised such as the timeline for the issuance of CP/CNO and implications to the CP/CNO issued when there is a change in the ownership or name of the GENCOs, among others.

In response, the Ancestral Domains Office (ADO) Dir. Atty. Arthur Herman provided clarifications relative to the process of the issuance of CNO and CP and its integration to the Energy Virtual One Shared System (EVOSS) system. Moreover, to further address the concerns and facilitate Data-Sharing between NCIP and ERC, NCIP Chairperson Jennifer Pia Sibug-Las proposed the formalization of the collaboration of the two offices through a Memorandum of Understanding.

Other participants of the meeting are Legal Affairs Office (LAO) Dir. Atty. Brain Masweng, Atty. Rizzabel Aguilar, Engr. Katherine Gullunan, and Office of the Chairperson (OC) Chief of Staff Atty. Christine Faith Sabella.