Wednesday, December 12, 2007 SC can only stop auction of Transco: power agency
ONLY an order from the Supreme Court (SC) will stop the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (Psalm) from auctioning the 25-year concession for the National Transmission Corporation (Transco).
"We are relying on the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira), which provides in no uncertain terms that the implementation of the Epira provisions can only be enjoined by an order from the Supreme Court," Psalm president Jose Ibazeta said.
Ibazeta remains confident that despite protests from various camps, the bidding on Wednesday will push through.
"Barring such an order from the Supreme Court, given that all preparations are in place, there is no reason to stop the Transco bidding on December 12," he added.
Epira is the law which mandates the privatization of Transco as part of broad reforms in the Philippine electricity industry.
The consortium of La Costa, headed by Salvador Zamora III and former finance secretary Roberto de Ocampo, is seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent Psalm from proceeding with the Transco bidding.
La Costa alleged that Psalm committed irregularities when it disqualified the company from participating in the bidding.
Aside from La Costa, it was also reported that the consortium formed by Citadel Holdings Inc., of the Delgado clan has backed out from the bidding.
Sources said the foreign partner of Citadel Holdings, the power grid of India, decided not to push through with the partnership.
Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued separate legal opinions confirming that the pre-qualified bidders for the Transco concession meet the Filipino nationality requirement for the operation of Transco.
The SEC's Office of the General Counsel confirmed that each of the groups' proposed structure and equity investments meet the ownership requirement for grantees of a public utility franchise.
"We are hopeful that the confirmation from the SEC as to the nationality of the bidders will put to rest all doubts about their qualification. This is just more reason for us to push through with the December 12 bidding," Ibazeta said. (MSN/Sunnex)
