ILOILO City – A new Regional Trial Court (RTC) branch and a new judge will be handling the expropriation case filed by MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) against Panay Electric Co. (PECO).
The case was re-raffled to the sala of RTC, Branch 33 of Judge Ma. Theresa Gaspar on Monday.
RTC, Branch 35’s Judge Daniel Antonio Gerardo Amular decided to inhibit from the case.
In an order dated Jan. 15, Amular stated he opted to have the case re-raffled after consulting Executive Judge Victor Gelvezon.
“Notwithstanding that the Presiding Judge performs his duties in accordance with the conscientious dictate of his conscience and the applicable provisions of law, it has come to a point that whatever judgment the Presiding Judge would render in the case would not be accepted by either the plaintiff or the defendant or maybe tainted with bias,” according to Amular.
Gaspar would be the fourth judge to handle the case following Judge Yvette Go of RTC, Branch 37; Judge Gelveson as pairing judge when Go went on leave; and Amular.
“Since the court is the least understood as an institution in the discharge of its function, the lack of understanding of the rules and procedures in connection thereto would affect the integrity of our courts to uphold the rule of law,” lamented Amular.
Judge Gelvezon approved the re-raffle.
MORE Power filed the expropriation case against PECO in March 2019 a month after President Rodrigo Duterte singed MORE Power’s franchise law (Republic Act 11212) as new power distributor in Iloilo City.
MORE Power asked RTC, Branch 37 to issue a writ of possession authorizing it to take immediate control, operation, use, and disposition of PECO’s power distribution system assets.
The city’s new power distributor also petitioned the court to determine the reasonable value of PECO’s power distribution system assets for just compensation, then order the transfer of the ownership of these upon payment of a just compensation.
By MORE Power’s own estimate, however, PECO’s power distribution system is valued at P481,842,450 – way below PECO’s previous claim that its assets are worth at least P2 billion.
In seeking the expropriation of PECO’s assets, MORE Power cited Section 10 of RA 11212 and Rule 67 Section 2 of the Revised Rules of Court authorizing it to take possession of, exercise control over, and manage and operate all of the power distribution assets in Iloilo City.
The expropriation of PECO’s assets in its favor, according to MORE Power, would allow it to “immediately address and correct poor services, overcharging, frequent brownouts, expensive rates, old and unsafe facilities and practices, and other service deficiencies that this city’s power users and consumers had long suffered.”
PECO, on the other hand, questioned the constitutionality of RA 11212, specifically the sections on expropriation.
PECO’s power distribution franchise expired on Jan. 19, 2019./PN
