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MANILA — The appointment of former Energy Regulatory Commission chair Jose Vicente Salazar at the Department of Information and Communications Technology is being opposed based on a finding by the previous administration that he was guilty of misconduct at the ERC.

"This is contrary to the penalty meted to him by no less than the Office of the President signed by Salvador C. Medialdea, Executive Secretary, under the authority of President Rodrigo Duterte on October 6, 2017," the family of the late ERC director Francisco Jose Villa Jr. said of Salazar's appointment as DICT Undersecretary under the Marcos administration.

The Villa family wrote an open letter to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. dated Aug. 10, appealing that he "rescind the appointment" of Salazar and "enforce the decision" of Duterte "to bar him from public service forever."

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Salazar was sacked in October 2017 after he was found guilty of two counts of simple misconduct and one count of grave misconduct in connection to corruption charges while serving as ERC chair.

Salazar was named by Villa in the rigging of the selection process for an audio visual presentation project to favor a certain Luis Morelos. He denied any wrongdoing and said the deal to produce infomercials and campaign materials with Morelos was still in the inception stage.

He also denied involvement in any procurement process in the ERC, as well as rushing the boardroom renovation and the purchase of a coaster long-sought by the employees union in time for his birthday as alleged at that time.

Villa killed himself in November 2016 after supposedly being pressured to approve procurement contracts and hiring consultants without proper bidding and procedure, his family had said.

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With the guilty ruling against Salazar, the Office of the President imposed "the penalty of dismissal from the service with all accessory penalties" on him.

In their letter to Marcos, the Villa family stated the following, which is from Medialdea's 20-page decision: “As for the applicable penalty, the rules provide that if the respondent is found guilty of two (2) or more different offenses, the penalty to be imposed should be that corresponding to the most serious offense and the rest shall be considered as aggravating circumstances."

"Grave Misconduct is a grave offense punishable by dismissal from the service, which carries with it cancellation of eligibility, perpetual disqualification from holding public office, bar from taking civil service examinations, and forfeiture of retirement benefits."

The family asked Marcos "to take this God-given chance to make the right decision that will hopefully serve as an example and edify the soul of our government" by repealing Salazar's appointment.

Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said they could not comment on the matter as of the moment.

"Until we are aware of the true status of the case, no comment," she told ABS-CBN News in a message.

ABS-CBN News also sought comment from DICT Sec. Ivan John Uy via text message and is still awaiting his reply.

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