Judge Maria Lina Gonzaga of the Bacolod Regional Trial Court Branch 42 denied the petition for a temporary restraining order against the joint venture agreement of Primelectric Holdings Inc., an affiliate company of MORE Electric and Power Corp., and Central Negros Electric Cooperative.
The case stemmed from the petition filed by representatives of the Negros Consumers Watch and the CENECO Anti JVA Coalition.
The groups’ petition sought to nullity the JVA with an application for issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction and TRO.
“For non-compliance with the specific provision of the law, the application for the issuance of a temporary restraining order is denied,” Gonzaga said in her order dated June 22.
Gonzaga set the hearing for the application for the issuance of the WPI on June 29.
The ratification of the signed JVA by the member-consumers through a plebiscite began on June 24. It will run for three weekends.
The JVA needs to get a majority of yes or affirmative votes for the JVA to push through, as required by the guidelines of the National Electrification Administration.