SC: Government a party in Meralco rate hike case

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court on Thursday denied the motion of the Office of the Solicitor General asking to be excused from making a comment on petitions questioning the basis of the recent power rate hike.

In a decision on Thursday, the high court ordered that a comment be filed by January 17 to defend the move of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approving power firm Manila Electric Company's (Meralco) P4.15 per kilowatt-hour rate increase.

Saying that the government agencies are only nominal respondents, Solicitor General Francis Jardaleza on Wednesday asked the court that Meralco be the only party to answer the two consolidated petitions.

Read: Gov't won't answer petition vs power rate hike

The court en banc also ordered the petitioners--among whom are militant party-list representatives--to revise petitions and bring an action against an alleged collusion among power suppliers and firms.

Meralco, meanwhile, beat the Wednesday deadline on the filing of comment before the high tribunal.

Preliminary conference involving respondents and petitions was set on January 13 followed by oral arguments on January 21.

Last December 23, the Supreme Court granted a temporary restraining order lasting 60 days against ERC's implementation its December 9 order on increasing rates bestowed on consumers.

Read: SC halts Meralco rate hike

The big time rate hike met controversy after several lawmakers called attention to a possible collusion among power suppliers.

The lawmakers said the six power players experienced "unplanned outages" during Malampaya's unscheduled maintenance, forcing Meralco to source more expensive electricity from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market.

The Department of Justice has begun an investigation on possible charges of collusion. - with Edu Punay