A Bacolod Regional Trial Court judge has lifted the 72-hour temporary restraining order (TRO) on the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) and Primelectric Holdings Inc. (PHI) joint venture agreement and its plebiscite on Saturday, July 1.
However, CENECO’s suspension of the plebiscite, where member-consumers were to vote yes or no to the JVA, on July 1 and 2 will remain to avoid confusion, its acting general manager Arnel Lapore said.
Lapore, prior to the lifting of the TRO, had announced the suspension of the plebiscite on July 1 and 2, but said they would proceed with holding it on July 8 and 9.
He said they may also seek permission from the National Electrification Administration for the holding of the plebiscite on two additional plebiscite dates to make up for the July 1 and 2 cancellation.
Bacolod RTC Branch 42 Judge Maria Lina Gonzaga in an order issued at 4:30 p.m. Friday acted on a motion for reconsideration file by CENECO to the TRO she issued on Thursday.
On Thursday she had directed CENECO to submit the necessary evidence that it conducted a massive information education and communication (IEC) campaign on the joint venture, which activities should have been done prior to the signing of the JVA.
The judge, in her order Friday, said “the court notes from the submitted documents that discussions on the JVA were done over various radio stations in Bacolod City from March 2023 up to the present.”
“Several newspapers likewise certified that the proposed JVA was published and discussed in various editions of news articles of the publications from March 2023 to the present,” the judge added.
The judge said with such compliance the 72-hour TRO is lifted and the hearing of the preliminary injunction will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, July 3.
Petitioners Pepito Pico, Rommel Pido and Aaron Sorbito of the Negros Consumers Watch and the Anti-CENECO JVA Coalition are seeking the nullification of the JVA with application for the issuance of a Preliminary Injunction or TRO, and have named officials of CENECO and PHI as respondents.
Rey Gorgonio, lawyer of the petitioners, said they were surprised that the judge lifted the TRO even before they could file their reply to the motion for reconsideration filed by CENECO.
They were preparing their opposition to the MR when they heard that the judge had lifted the TRO, he said.*