PSALM loses bid to junk case vs SMC power unit
By Jenniffer B. Austria – September 22, 2019
from manilastandard.net
State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. suffered a setback in its bid to terminate the contract with South Premiere Power Corp., a subsidiary of SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., over the management of the 1,200-megawatt Ilijan power plant.
The Court of Appeals dismissed the petition for certiorari filed by PSALM against the order of Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court Branch 212 in favor of South Premiere Power.
SMC Global Power, a unit of conglomerate San Miguel Corp., said in a disclosure to the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. on Sept. 20 that it received the resolution of the CA Fifth Division on Sept. 19.
PSALM wanted to terminate the contract with SPPC over alleged payment default, but SPPC, which signed the independent power producer agreement on the Ilijan plant after winning the bidding conducted by PSALM in 2010 with an $870-million offer, secured a preliminary injunction from the Mandaluyong court against PSALM.
The Mandaluyong RTC on Sept. 15, 2016 issued an order granting a preliminary injunction against PSALM but PSALM through the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel brought up the matter to the CA to prevent the Mandaluyong RTC from exercising jurisdiction over the case.
“We advise that the Court of Appeals, Fifth Division, in a resolution dated Aug. 23, 2019, a copy of which we received from our external counsel on Sept. 19, 2019, dismissed the petition for certiorari filed by Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. against South Premiere Power Corp.,” SMC Global Power said.
The CA said it dismissed the petition which also called for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction due to several “infirmities.”
The resolution noted that PSALM had failed to state the names and addresses of the parties in the case, as required under Section 3, Rule 46 of the Rules of Court. It said PSALM also failed to furnish a copy of the petition to SPPC, as required under Section 3, Rule 46 of the same rules issued by the Supreme Court of the Philippines Mandatory Continuing Legal Office.
It said PSALM also failed to implead or join in the lawsuit, the Mandaluyong RTC, the public respondent in the case, as required under Section 5, Rule 65 of the Rules of Court.
“Anent PSALM’s prayer for the issuance of temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction, the court rules to deny the same…Wherefore, the petition for certiorari is dismissed due to the above-mentioned infirmities. Accordingly, the prayer for temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction is denied,” the resolution said.
SMC Global Power said SPPC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the corporation, “continues to be the IPP administrator for the Ilijan power plant.”
“We continuously honor our obligations. In return, we only ask that they respect the sanctity of our agreement,” San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said earlier.
Ang said SPPC already paid P289.1 billion ($6.19 billion) in various fees as of end-April 2019 for the 1,200-MW power facility in Batangas, contrary to recent claims that it owed PSALM some P19.75 billion in unpaid dues.
He said PSALM already gained P34.75 billion from its administration agreement with SPPC.
Ang said the amount it paid for capacity fees alone, equivalent to about $2 billion, was enough to pay for the 20-year-old power plant while a brand new plant with the same capacity could be built for so much less.
He said PSALM also failed to show the board approval for the termination of SMC’s IPPA for the Ilijan power plant during the previous administration.
