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THE
Regional Trial Court (RTC) in
Makati
has dismissed the case filed by La Costa Development
Corp. against the agency tasked to privatize the
government’s power generation and transmission assets.
According to the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities
Management Corp. (PSALM), the court dismissed the case
for plaintiff’s failure to state a cause of action and
for lack of jurisdiction against PSALM and Jose C.
Ibazeta, company president.
La Costa
alleged that PSALM disregarded the law and its own
bidding rules. It filed the case before the Makati RTC
to stop the bidding for the 25-year concession of the
National Transmission Corp. (Transco).
In its
decision on February 5, 2008, Branch 61 of the Makati
RTC said La Costa “faltered to state a cause against
herein defendants PSALM and Ibazeta.”
Judge J.
Cedrick O. Ruiz explained that “La Costa’s allegations
of fraud were not specified, which is another
translucent badge of an unwholesome intent to go on a
‘fishing expedition,’” and that the complainant even
“failed to establish and prove its blanket allegations
and motherhood statements on fraud.”
Entertaining what it called La Costa’s egregious attempt
to fish for fraudulent acts may, said the court, “open
the floodgates to similar harassment suits filed by
disgruntled bidders whose woes are largely
self-inflicted.”
PSALM
said the court ruled from the evidence adduced by the
parties, quoting a part of the ruling that said, “it
becomes perspicuous that PSALM’s action of disqualifying
La Costa was founded upon the published and accepted
bidding procedures which were previously revealed to the
plaintiff herein which bound itself to abide thereby.”
The
court rejected La Costa’s argument that Ibazeta was
biased because he knew “a certain ‘Enrique Razon Jr.’
and declared that the fact “that defendant Ibazeta is
somehow connected to Enrique Razon Jr. proves nothing.”
Before
his appointment to PSALM, Ibazeta had worked in various
capacities in businessman Razon’s group of companies.
Mr. Razon is a stakeholder in the consortium that won
the bid.
PSALM
had declared the $3.95-billion bid of the consortium led
by Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp. (MOGRC), as the winner
for being the highest. Although La Costa said earlier it
could bid as high as $6 billion, it never got to do so
because it was disqualified.
A
selection notice has since been issued to the MOGRC; and
an agreement that gives it a one-year period to apply
for an obtain a congressional franchise has also been
signed. |
