BACOLOD City – The Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 42 lifted the temporary restraining order (TRO) it issued on June 29 against the July 1 and 2 plebiscite for the joint venture agreement (JVA) between Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) and Primelectric Holdings, Inc. / Negros Electric Power Corporation (NEPC).
But despite the TRO’s lifting, Ceneco decided to better proceed with the postponement of the plebiscite, said Acting General Manager Arnel Lapore.
It was around 2 p.m. yesterday, June 30, when Lapore announced the postponement of the July 1 and 2 plebiscite in a press conference – some two hours before the court lifted the TRO.
“I do not want to confuse the consumer-member-owners (MCOs) after I declared a postponement prior to the issuance of the court order lifting the TRO,” Lapore explained.
Judge Maria Lina Gonzaga lifted the TRO at around 4:30 p.m. yesterday, June 30, citing documents submitted to the court showing that discussions on the JVA were done over various radio stations in this city from March 2023 up to the present.
Several newspapers likewise certified that the proposed JVA was published and discussed in various news articles from March 2023 up to the present, she added.
The court’s June 29 TRO gave Ceneco and Primelectric 72 hours to submit evidence that they had conducted information, education and communications (IECs) activities for the JVA.
“Ceneco filed through counsel Eduardo Padios a motion for reconsideration (MR) on the court’s June 29, 2023 order with compliance today, June 30, 2023 at 3:21 in the afternoon,” read part of the court’s Friday order lifting the TRO.
This was after Gonzaga granted the MR filed by Negros Consumers’ Watch following her June 22 order denying the petition for declaratory relief and declaration of nullity of the JVA with application for the issuance of preliminary injunction and/or TRO.
Primelectric and Ceneco entered into a JVA to improve power distribution service in the cooperative’s franchise areas, covering the cities of Bacolod, Bago, Talisay and Silay; and the municipalities of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto in Negros Occidental.
The plebiscites were scheduled for six days. The first two days were already done (June 24 and 25). The next schedules were supposedly today and tomorrow (July 1 and 2) while the last two plebiscites on July 8 and 9.
Lapore said they will ask the National Electrification Administration for an extension of the plebiscite.
Power Watch Negros Advocates (PWNA) secretary general Wennie Sancho said they are supporting the JVA. He urged the Ceneco consumers to ratify it.
Sancho said, “Ceneco is financially bleeding and it needs an immediate blood transfusion to survive. As an institution, Ceneco is about to collapse because of the heavy weight of systems loss piled upon its shoulders.”
There are 192,188 Ceneco eligible voters in the cities of Bacolod, Bago, Talisay and Silay, and in the towns of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto.
The JVA will become effective once the majority (50 percent plus one) of Ceneco’s consumer-members will ratify it in a plebiscite, through a “yes” vote./PN
