40 activist groups file suit vs PPA collection

About 40 activist groups filed a class-action lawsuit yesterday against two Philippine electricity companies, asking the court to order them to stop collecting the purchased power adjustment (PPA) fee from consumers.

Named defendants of the lawsuit are Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and the National Power Corp. (Napocor). The petition for the lawsuit was filed with the Pasig Regional Trial Court, which has jurisdiction over Pasig City where Meralco’s headquarters is located.

Former Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and Bishop Teodoro Bacani of the Catholic Church led the group of petitioners and the people who supported the filing of the lawsuit in a rally at the Pasig court.

Aside from the injunction against the PPA collection, the petitioners seek an amendment to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (the Epira Law), which allows Meralco and Napocor to increase the PPA charge. This law is due to take effect in July.

In a statement released before the rally, Enrile said imposing additional PPA fees on consumers is unconstitutional and violates substantive due process.

The government, he said, "authorized Meralco and Napocor the right to pass on the burden of paying for the stranded costs under the IPP contracts" to consumers.

Moreover, both companies have violated their legislative franchise by "imposing arbitrary, unreasonable and unjust" PPA charges to the customers, Enrile said.

Alain del Pascua, one of the group’s leaders, said he wanted the government to amend the provision on the universal charge in the Epira Law. The provision allows for the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to determine the universal charge one year after the law takes effect.

But Del Pascua argued that the charge was only meant to be the payment for the stranded debts in excess of the amount assumed by the national government, as well as the stranded contract costs of utility distribution resulting from the energy industry’s restructuring.

"So that is why we banded together to question the constitutionality of the Epira Law," Del Pascua said. "Why should we pay for the electricity we did not use?"

Among the groups that support the lawsuit are the People’s Consultative Assembly, Sulo ng Pilipino, the Philippine Movement Against Poverty, Union of the Masses and the Philippine Airlines Employees Union. They vowed to solicit at least one million signatures to support the petition, and said a similar petition will be filed against local electricity distributors nationwide.

They also asked the court to prevent Meralco and Napocor from disconnecting electricity services to those who signed the petition, and who have refused to pay any more PPA charge until the case is decided.

Some of the petitioners have gone to the headquarters of Meralco to pay their May bills, but only for the electricity they used up – not the PPA charges. However, the cashiers refused to accept the partial payment and informed them that their electricity services will be suspended unless they make the full payment by the due dates.