Qualifications, tenure, and temporary substitutes
- Section 1 amends Section 3 of Commonwealth Act No. 146 to provide that the Commissioner and Associate Commissioners hold office until they reach the age of seventy years or are removed under the procedure in Section 173 of Act No. 2711 (the Revised Administrative Code).
- Section 1 provides that when the Public Service Commissioner is absent for any reason, the Associate Commissioner with seniority of appointment acts as Commissioner.
- Section 1 authorizes substitutes when, due to absence, illness, incapacity, temporary disability, or a vacancy, the needed number of Commissioners to decide a case or issue an order is not present, or when there is a tie vote.
- Section 1 provides that in these situations, the Secretary of Justice may designate such number of Judges of the Court of First Instance as are necessary to sit temporarily as Commissioners in the Public Service Commission.
Voting, hearing in banc, and delegation
- Section 1 provides that all powers vested in the Commission are considered vested in any of the Commissioners, whether acting individually or jointly, as provided.
- Section 1 requires the Commissioners to equitably divide pending and future cases among themselves, and to hear and determine the cases assigned to each.
- Section 1 requires that all contested cases, all cases involving fixing of rates, and all petitions for reconsideration of orders or decisions be heard in banc, with an affirmative vote of at least two Commissioners for a decision or noninterlocutory order to be promulgated.
- Section 1 authorizes, for contested cases and rate-fixing cases, the Commission to delegate reception of evidence to one Commissioner, who must report to the Commission in banc to enable it to render the decision.
Commissioner compensation fixed
- Section 1 amends Section 4 of Commonwealth Act No. 146 to set the Public Service Commissioner’s annual compensation at PHP 11,000.
- Section 1 sets each Associate Commissioner’s annual compensation at PHP 10,000.
Secretary of Justice control and appointments
- Section 1 amends Section 6 of Commonwealth Act No. 146 to require that the Secretary of Justice, upon recommendation of the Public Service Commissioner, appoint:
- a secretary of the Commission, and
- such other officers and employees as may be provided in the Appropriation Act.
- Section 1 provides that the Public Service Commissioner has general executive control, direction, and supervision over:
- the work of the Commission and its members,
- its body and personnel, and
- all administrative business.
Commission offices and hearing schedule
- Section 1 amends Section 10 of Commonwealth Act No. 146 to place the Commission office in the City of Manila at a location designated by the Commission.
- Section 1 authorizes the Commission to hold hearings at times and places within the Philippines, as it provides by order in writing.
- Section 1 requires that during April and May of each year, one Commissioner is on duty while the other two Commissioners are on vacation, so that once every three years one of them is on duty during April and May.
- Section 1 authorizes the Secretary of Justice to require one or both Commissioners not on duty to render services during the vacation months in the interest of public service.
Representation in court proceedings
- Section 1 amends Section 38 of Commonwealth Act No. 146 to require that the chief of the legal division or any other attorney of the Commission represent the Commission in all judicial proceedings.
- Section 1 provides that it is the duty of the Solicitor General to represent the Commission in any judicial proceeding if, for special reasons, the Commissioner requests the Solicitor General’s intervention.
Office of the People’s Counsel created
- Section 1 creates an office under the administrative supervision of the Secretary of Justice known as the Office of the People’s Counsel in the Public Service Commission.
- Section 1 provides that the People’s Counsel shall have two assistants and such number of employees as may be necessary to perform the functions specified.
- Section 1 requires that the People’s Counsel and his assistants be appointed by the President of the Philippines, with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of the Congress of the Philippines.
- Section 1 provides that the employees of the Office of the People’s Counsel are appointed by the Secretary of Justice upon recommendation of the People’s Counsel.
- Section 1 requires that the People’s Counsel and his assistants possess the qualifications of a provincial fiscal.
People’s Counsel compensation and incompatibilities
- Section 1 sets the People’s Counsel compensation at PHP 7,200 per annum.
- Section 1 sets the First and Second Assistant People’s Counsels compensation at PHP 6,000 per annum each.
- Section 1 prohibits the People’s Counsel, assistants, and employees from, during their continuance in office:
- intervening directly or indirectly in the management or control of any public service as defined in the Act; or
- being financially interested directly or indirectly in any such public service.
Duties: rate-fixing, representation, complaints
- Section 1 requires the People’s Counsel to:
- institute proceedings before the Commission, in behalf of the public, to fix just and reasonable rates or charges to be followed and observed by public services, whenever he believes existing rates or charges are unjust and unreasonable or unjustly discriminatory.
- Section 1 requires the People’s Counsel to represent and appear for the public before the Commission or any court of the Philippines in every case involving the interests of users of the products of, or service furnished by, any public service under the Commission’s jurisdiction.
- Section 1 requires the People’s Counsel to represent and appear for petitioners appearing before the Commission to complain in matters of rates and services.
Duties: investigation and subpoena power
- Section 1 empowers the People’s Counsel to investigate:
- the service given,
- the rates charged, and
- the valuation of properties
of the public services under the Commission’s jurisdiction, and other matters relating to those public services that affect the interests of users.
- Section 1 requires the People’s Counsel to take all steps necessary for the protection of the interests of the person(s) or the public affected.
- Section 1 authorizes the People’s Counsel to issue subpoena or subpoena duces tecum in connection with such investigation.
- Section 1 authorizes the People’s Counsel to call upon and obtain assistance he deems necessary from any officer or employee of any Department, Bureau, office, agency, or instrumentality of the Government, including government-owned, controlled, or operated corporations.
Amendments, appropriation, repeals, effectivity
- Section 2 amends the term “Deputy Commissioner” appearing in sections five, twenty-nine and thirty(a c) of Commonwealth Act No. 146 by replacing it with “Associate Commissioners.”
- Section 3 appropriates PHP 80,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, from the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated to carry out the purposes of the Act.
- Section 3 provides that any balances remaining unexpended on June 30, 1948 revert to the National Treasury and are not available for expenditure except pursuant to an appropriation by the Congress of the Philippines.
- Section 4 repeals all acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of the Act.
- Section 5 provides that the Act takes effect upon approval.
- The Act was approved on June 21, 1947.