Officials of the Bakun local government unit and representatives of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples-Cordillera Administrative Region and the Bakun Indigenous Tribes Organization implemented the forced shutdown of Hedcor Inc.’s Lower Labay, Lon-oy and FLS hydropower plant facilities in Bakun, Benguet.
NCIP and the LGU representatives went to the power plant facilities to impose the forced shutdown on June 30, upon the instruction of he NCIP Regional Office in relation to the cease-and-desist order it issued on June 22, Aboitiz Power Corp., the parent firm of Hedor, said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Thursday.
Abotiz Power said the instruction was made without any reference to the directive from the Department of Energy dated June 25 to Hedcor to continue operating amid threats of yellow and red alerts in the Luzon grid.
Aboitiz Power earlier said the issuance of the CDO on June 22 was due to alleged irregularities on the Free Prior Informed Consent Memorandum of Agreement between Hedcor and the Bakun Indigenous Tribes Organization signed on Oct. 15, 2019.
“Unless DOE expressly states in writing and confirms that their letter sent on June 25 addressed to Hedcor to continue operations is simply a reminder, we will treat DOE’s letter as an order for Hedcor to keep operating our plants in Bakun.”¯ However, we are forced to stop operations, with the threat posed by the situation,” said Hedcor vice president for operations and maintenance Leo Lungay.
Lawyer Jerry Marave, who accompanied the group to implement the shutdown, said a court order and not a letter from the DOE could supersede the CDO.”¯ They insisted that the letter from the DOE was not an instruction, but a simple reminder.
Aboitiz said the group did not recognize a standing status quo ante order issued by the Regional Trial Court of Buguias which was a result of a mutual commitment between Hedcor and the LGU, represented by lawyer Sunny Sacla, to maintain the uninterrupted operations of the plants.
“As much as we want to continue delivering power to the Luzon grid, we don’t want to compromise the safety of the community and our personnel,” said Lungay.
The DOE underscored in the June 25 letter its mandate pursuant to”¯the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, “to ensure the quality, reliability, security, and affordability of the supply of electric power especially during this period of health pandemic.””¯
It highlighted in the letter the importance of ensuring “integrity of the power system, pursuant to EPIRA and as mandated by the [aforementioned] circulars and issuances” and emphasized its advice to “continue operating the Bakun hydropower plants in compliance with the said laws, WESM rules, and the Philippine Grid Code.”
