Iloilo City’s new distribution utility, More Electric and Power Corp. (MORE), insisted yesterday that a Court of Appeals ruling that confirmed its power of eminent domain under the law restructuring the country’s electricity power industry remains valid.
This despite a case being heard by the Supreme Court to determine if a Mandaluyong court’s ruling against the company’s power of expropriation as a congressional franchise-holder is constitutional.
MORE also lamented how Panay Electric Co. (PECO), which was denied the renewal of its franchise to run Iloilo City’s electricity distribution system, deceived the public with its recent statement that the Supreme Court had threatened MORE and the Iloilo City Regional Trial Court with contempt in relation with the expropriation case.
MORE said the Supreme Court has yet to grant PECO’s petition to stop the trial court from proceeding with the expropriation case as it only directed his company and Iloilo City RTC Judge Yvette Go to comment on PECO’s petition.
Go earlier ruled for the expropriation case against PECO to proceed.
“To set the record straight, contrary to the claims of PECO that MORE and Judge Yvette Go of Iloilo were directed to show cause why they should not be declared in contempt of court, MORE and Judge Yvette Go were merely required to comment on PECO’s urgent motion for issuance of show cause order,” MORE said.
“There is an ocean of difference between a court issuing a show cause order vis-à-vis a court issuing an order requiring a party to comment on the motion to issue show cause order.”
“Once again, it would appear that PECO mistakenly presumed that its motion was granted when the SC acted on its motion by requiring MORE and Judge Go to file their comments on the motion,” MORE said.
The new Iloilo distribution utility added PECO was also wrong in claiming that the CA did not rule on anything because PECO had already filed a motion for withdrawal of its petition to stop the Iloilo City RTC expropriation case.
“Quite the contrary, it is elementary that a motion is not deemed to have already been acted upon by its mere filing. The petition not being withdrawn, the CA Resolution stands,” MORE said.
The CA’s October 3 ruling affirmed that the Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction over cases involving distribution utilities under Republic Act No. 9136 or the Electricity Power Industry Reform Act.
As long as the SC has not issued any injunction against the expropriation proceedings, it can proceed, according to the CA decision penned by Associate Justice Alfredo Ampuan.
More importantly, MORE said, the CA also affirmed the status of MORE as the new franchise holder under Republic Act No. 11212 and the power of eminent domain for utilities under EPIRA.
MORE said PECO cannot deny that it has been denied its franchise which Congress decided to give to MORE.
“PECO’s application for the renewal of its franchise has been resoundingly denied. No amount of argument can change these facts.”
PECO is now only operating under a provisional Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity which would expire when the transition to MORE’s takeover of Iloilo City’s electricity distribution system has been completed.
“MORE is confident that the truth will always prevail. Issuing deceptive statements to influence the perception of the public is an exercise in futility as this will not and cannot alter the established facts on record,” the company said.