Court junks PECO’s petition vs Meter Reading Card ordinance

SOURCE: The Daily Guardian

THE Iloilo Regional Trial Court Branch 39 dismissed with prejudice the petition for declaratory relief filed by the Panay Electric Company (PECO) against the Iloilo City government’s Meter Reading Card System Ordinance.

In a decision dated Aug 8, 2018, RTC Judge Victorino Maniba Jr. dismissed the petition due to PECO’s failure to appear during the pre-trial conference on Wednesday.

Dismissal with prejudice would mean that the case could not be re-filed.

The decision is based on Rule 18, Section 5 of the Rules of Court which states that “the failure of the plaintiff to appear when so required pursuant to the next preceding section shall be cause for dismissal of the action. The dismissal shall be with prejudice, unless otherwise ordered by the court.”

City Councilor Joshua Alim, who authored the ordinance, said the conference was scheduled at 2 p.m. but the legal counsel or any representative from PECO was a no-show until 2:30 p.m.

“So at past 2:30 p.m. I moved for the dismissal of the case,” he said.

PECO questioned the validity of Regulation Ordinance No. 2017-095, which was unanimously passed by the Iloilo City Council on June 13, 2017.

The power distribution firm claimed the city council has no jurisdiction to regulate PECO as such power with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA).

Alim claimed the dismissal of the case is a “victory” for Iloilo consumers whom he said are victims of alleged erroneous billing by PECO.

The Meter Reading Card System is aimed at countering the alleged overbilling by providing a validation mechanism for all meter readings.

Under the ordinance, PECO consumers will have a card to monitor their consumptions.

“The abused consumers have finally received justice,” Alim said.

Also present during the conference was Atty. Rulido de la Cruz, acting City Legal Officer.

But the RTC decision is still subject for appeal within 15 days of receipt, according to Alim.

“I don’t think they will stop. They will find all legal ways to defend their interest. On our part, we only defend the interest of customers,” he said.

PECO assistant vice president for operations Randy Pastolero said the decision is an issue of technicality.

He said all the legal matters will be answered by their lawyer Hans Sayno. He said it is also up to Sayno to explain why he did not appear at the pre-trial conference.

But Pastolero said they did not receive any notice of conference.

He also said PECO would file a motion for reconsideration upon receipt of the court decision. As of press time, PECO has yet to get an official copy of the decision.

“This is just a local court. There is still the Court of Appeals and a lot of affiliate courts and avenue to bring the case into. PECO is ready to go all the way,” Pastolero said.

PECO got an injunction early this year which restrained the ordinance’s enforcement on hold.

Pastolero refrained from further giving details on the petition to avoid violating the sub judice rule.

Sub judice, which means “under judicial consideration,” is a rule that restricts comments and disclosures pertaining to pending judicial proceedings.

Meanwhile, Pastolero said they have already installed 1,000 units of smart meters which they hope will address billing problems.

The units are still under trial and PECO will still seek ERC approval before the full deployment of the meters which can be monitored via the internet.