Thursday, August 21, 2008 Court junks Meralco’s plea vs estafa trial
A MAKATI court on Wednesday dismissed the petition of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) seeking to stop the justice department from hearing the P889 million syndicated estafa complaint filed against them by consumers group National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms (Nasecore).
Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 141 Judge Maryann Corpus-Manalac also dismissed not only Meralco's prayer for preliminary injunction against the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Nasecore, but the entire Meralco petition on account of the utility firm filing the case on the wrong venue.
Manalac said the Lopez-owned company should have filed the case before the trial court of Manila, which has territorial jurisdiction over the DOJ, whose main office is based in Manila.
"It is undisputed that the questioned acts pertained to that of the respondent officers of the DOJ in Manila. The City of Manila is not within this court's territorial jurisdiction as defined by the Supreme Court. As correctly argued by the respondents, thus this court is not the proper venue for the instant petition," said Manalac in her order.
The judge said lawyers for Meralco erred in claiming that they can file the case in Makati just because Manila and Makati belong to the same judicial region.
"While it is true that injunctive writs issued by RTCs may be enforced in any part of their respective regions, it does not exempt the petitioners from complying with the rule on venue. Rule 65, Section 4 (of the Rules of Court) is explicit. Venue is not regional in scope but is delimited by the area designated by the Supreme Court. It should not be confused with the regional enforceability of issued writs under Section 21 of Batasan Pambansa (BP) 129," said Manalac.
On May 29, Nasecore filed before the DOJ a syndicated estafa complaint against Meralco for allegedly using P889 million of its customers' refundable money.
The case stemmed from a ruling by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ordering Meralco to return the 10 percent meter and bill deposits of its consumers. The complainants said the money should have been put in a trust fund.
Named respondents in the case were Meralco chief executive officer Manuel Lopez and members of the company's board of directors.
“It's a triumph of justice, paving the way for the prosecution of Meralco for declaring as income part of the interests earned by the meter and bill deposits of its customers," Nasecore president Pete Ilagan said.
Ilagan sees the court decision as a "significant step towards making Meralco accountable criminally and civilly for the misuse of its customers' refundable money.
He explained that the court’s decision meant that the June 2 decision of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. suspending the payment by Nasecore of legal fees and allowing the docketing of its complaint against Meralco will stay.
He added that DOJ Department Order No. 376 dated June 11, 2008 creating a panel of investigators to conduct a preliminary investigation, as well as the subpoena issued by that DOJ panel on Meralco had also been sustained.
According to Ilagan, their lawyers followed up through a letter dated June 2, 2008 the request for the setting aside of the filing fee, to which Gonzalez issued a letter directive granting Nasecore's request that the filing fee be considered as a lien on account of the consumer’s game case being imbued with public interest.
Nasecore, claiming the complainants were ordinary citizens and could not afford the filing fee, requested that the filing fee for the case be considered as a lien on any monetary sums which Meralco will be made to pay or refund. (AH/Sunnex)
