THE question of whether the proxy solicitation done by the Lopez bloc is illegal or not will be determined Friday afternoon in a hearing supervised by corporate regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Hubert Guevara, director for compliance and enforcement department of the commission, told the BusinessMirror the hearing is pushing through as scheduled Friday despite the filing of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) before the Court of Appeals (CA) of a temporary restraining order (TRO) questioning the validity of the SEC’s May 26 order.

“I’m not aware that Meralco already got a TRO. Let’s see what will happen. But as far as I’m concerned, the hearing will push through,” he said.

Meralco legal counsel Monico Jacob, in another interview, said the TRO petition basically questions the jurisdiction of the SEC on intracorporate issues, like proxy solicitations.

“If we secure one, we don’t see the need to appear in the hearing and, consequently, reply to the show-cause order dated May 27 on the SEC’s claimed defiance by Meralco executives of an earlier order,” he explained.

Guevara said the commission en banc has designated a three-member hearing panel to administer the matter.

The SEC has slapped two orders—one issued on the eve of the utility firm’s annual stockholders’ meeting and the other after the meeting—against Meralco chairman Manuel M. Lopez and his associates.

The first order questioned the legality of the move made by Lopez, Jesus Francisco, Felipe Alfonso, Christian Monsod, Elpidio Ibañez and Francis Giles Puno to solicit proxy shares and allegedly not declaring their validity. The said order was issued based on a complaint lodged by GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia. GSIS owns 25 percent of the utility firm.

The second order, or the show-cause directive, meanwhile, directed Lopez, Francisco and acting Meralco corporate secretary Anthony Rosete to explain why they should not be held in contempt for defying the first order.

Both orders were penned by commissioner and officer in charge Jesus Enrique Martinez.

For its part, GSIS, upon learning of the motion for a TRO by Meralco, filed with the CA on Thursday afternoon a letter of request to reraffle the Meralco petition and an urgent motion to defer any action pending the reraffling.

“Men who know the law should go to the higher authority and question the SEC order. They can go, yes, but what I’m saying is that they have already openly defied the order of the SEC. They can go to the upper court and question that validity. And until and unless that TRO is issued, Meralco should follow the lawful order of the SEC,” said Garcia in an interview.

Cabinet studies ways to cut power rates

THE Cabinet Study Group tasked to look into the issue of power rates has created a technical working group to further thresh out the recommendations made by top executives of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) during a meeting on Thursday.

THE National Association of Electricity Consumers (Nasecore) Thursday filed a P889 million large-scale estafa case before the Department of Justice against officials of the Lopez-managed Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) in connection with the power distributor’s move to convert as income the interest earned by the meter and bill deposits of its subscribers.

THE question of whether the proxy solicitation done by the Lopez bloc is illegal or not will be determined Friday afternoon in a hearing supervised by corporate regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

ZAMBOANGA CITY—A powerful bomb exploded outside the main gate of the Col. Edwin Andrews Air Base (EAAB) that houses the 3rd Air Division of the Air Force (PAF) in barangay Santa Maria this city, killing two people and wounding 21 others.

POLICE tracking down the assailants in the bloody bank robbery in Cabuyao, Laguna, two weeks ago killed a man and arrested five others in simultaneous operations in the province and in Batangas, Thursday.

FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said the government remains optimistic that the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, will reduce the penalty of Filipino migrant workers May Vecina and Marilou Ranario, who have been sentenced to die by hanging.

ELECTIONS Commissioner Romeo Brawner succumbed to a heart attack Thursday while he was confined at a hospital in Quezon City, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced.