SC denies PSALM plea on privatization of Angat hydro power plant

The Supreme Court has denied the plea of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) to lift the court order stopping the proposed privatization of the hydroelectric power plant (HEPP) of Angat Dam in Bulacan. In a two-page resolution dated June 29 but released to the media only recently, the SC found no merit in the request of the state-run PSALM to lift the stay order. PSALM wanted to proceed with its negotiations with the private firm, Korean Water Resources Development Corp. (K-Water), a wholly-owned and controlled by the South Korean government, on the sale of the 246-megawatt HEPP. However, the SC resolution, signed by SC En Banc Assistant Clerk of Court Felipa Anama, said “the Court resolved to deny aforesaid Urgent Motion to Lift Status Quo Ante Order for lack of merit." As the status quo order is in effect, the Court has yet to rule on the main petition filed by several non-government organizations, led by the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), questioning the planned sale of the hydro-electric facility. On May 24, or exactly one week after he assumed office, Chief Justice Renato Corona issued the order preventing PSALM and other government agencies from proceeding with the sale of the HEPP facility to K-Water. Corona ’s order received concurrence from other SC justices during a full-court session held on June 16. The groups alleged that PSALM committed "grave abuse of discretion" when it conducted the bidding of Angat HEPP “in secrecy and in disregard of the people’s right to information, right to water and in violation of its mandate and the Constitution." The petitioners further said there was no transparency in the bidding process considering Psalm’s refusal to provide them certified true copies of documents on the sale of Angat HEPP and the profile of K-Water. FDC's co-petitioners are the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment Through Alternative Legal Services Inc. (Ideals, Inc.), Akbayan Citizen’s Action Party, Alliance of Progressive Labor and Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello. In their petition, they argued that the bidding process for the HEPP on January 11 this year should be nullified for being contrary to the Constitution. FDC claimed PSALM allegedly failed to “religiously comply" with its mandate under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA). They said the privatization all the assets of the NPC or the Angat HEPP are in violation of Presidential Decree 1445 (Auditing Code of the Philippines) and EPIRA itself. They also noted that the respondents violated the National Economy and Patrimony provisions under Article XII, Section 2 of 1987 Constitution and the Water Code of the Philippines when it allowed the Korean water firm to participate in the bidding process. Angat is the single most important water source of Metro Manila as it provides 97 percent of the water needs of at least 12 million residents of the country’s capital. It also irrigates some 31,000 hectares of farms across 20 towns and municipalities in Bulacan and Pampanga. Aside from PSALM and K-Water, also named respondents in the case are the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), National Irrigation Administration (NIA), and five other companies who took part in the bidding process for Angat HEPP. The five are First Gen Northern Energy Corp., San Miguel Corp., SN Aboitiz Power-Pangasinan, Inc., Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp., and DMCI Power Corp. –VVP, GMANews.TV