advisories & notices

The Market Surveillance Committee (MSC) is inviting all WESM Members and interested parties to submit comments to the Proposed General Amendments to the WESM Penalty Manual and WESM Billing and Settlement Manual on Penalty-related provisions to harmonize with the current Market Practices and Regulatory Directives.

The proposed amendments seek to cover the following matters:

1. Institutional roles, particularly those of the WESM Governance Arm and Market Operator will be clarified to reinforce accountability and streamline enforcement responsibilities;

2. Procedures for penalty collection, distribution or flowback, previously dispersed across various manuals, will be consolidated into a single, coherent section. This integration supports operational transparency and ensures that financial transactions are properly documented and executed;

3. The principle of exhaustion of remedies will be formally incorporated, ensuring that penalties are imposed and collected only after WESM Members have either fully exercised all available remedies or allowed the applicable periods to lapse under the procedures of the Governance Arm, without prejudice to their right to appeal to competent authority. This approach not only streamlines the Market Operator’s collection and distribution process but also upholds procedural fairness and protects the rights of market participants;

4. Timelines for billing, payment, and enforcement actions will be clearly defined, along with protocols for suspension and deregistration. These enhancements are intended to reduce ambiguity and promote timely compliance;

5. Terminology and rule references will be updated to reflect the latest WESM Rules and Manuals, eliminating outdated citations and ensuring consistency in language across related documents; and

6. Finally, reconsideration and appeal procedures will be transferred to the Enforcement and Compliance Manual, allowing the Penalty Manual to focus exclusively on penalty administration while ensuring that procedural remedies are provided in their appropriate regulatory context.

The WESM document for amendment are the WESM Penalty Manual and WESM Billing and Settlement Manual. However, revisions will also impact other documents, specifically the WESM Rules and the WESM Enforcement and Compliance Manual (ECM), for which corresponding proposals have been submitted to the Rules Change Committee (RCC)

DOCUMENTS:

Provided below are the relevant materials for your reference:

1. Overview and Discussion Paper
2. Matrix of Proposed Amendments for Comments

Kindly submit your comments (in Word format) to the Market Surveillance email at mag_mad@wesm.ph no later than 03 March 2026 or 30 working days from the date of publication (19 January 2026). 

Please input in the proper field the e-mail address of your point person(s) who we could further contact regarding activities related to the processing of the proposal. All comments received shall be published in the PEMC website.

Thank you.

For the Market Surveillance Committee.

Market Analysis Division

Market Assessment Group

Philippine Electricity Market Corporation

+632 8631 8734 | mag_mad@wesm.ph | www.wesm.ph

18F Robinsons Equitable Tower, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City 1600, Philippines