THE Supreme Court has ordered the dismissal of the graft case filed before the Regional Trial Court of Pasig City against four former commissioners of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) who were accused of allowing electric utilities like Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to forgo the bidding of their power supply requirements at the public’s expense.
In a 15-page decision penned by now retired Associate Justice Jose Reyes Jr., the Court en banc unanimously declared that the Regional Trial Court of Pasig City has no jurisdiction to hear and resolve the complaint filed by the Office of the Ombudsman against ERC commissioners Alfredo Non, Gloria Victoria Yap-Taruc, Josefine Patricia Magpale-Asirit, and Geronimo Sta. Ana for violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
“All actions of and all proceedings undertaken by the RTC of Pasig City in the case are declared null and void for lack of jurisdiction,” the SC declared.
The ruling granted the petition of the four former ERC commissioners seeking the annulment of the orders issued by the Pasig RTC Branch 155 on September 10, 2018 and October 22, 2018, which denied their plea to quash the information against them.
In their petition before the SC, the officials argued that Pasig RTC Branch 155 presiding Judge Maria Gracia Cadiz-Casaclang erred in denying their motion to quash information because, based on the provisions of Republic Act 10660 (An Act Strengthening Further the Functional and Structural Organization of the Sandiganbayan, Further Amending Presidential Decree No. 1606, As Amended, and Appropriating Funds Therefor), she has no jurisdiction over the criminal case as it must be tried by a regional trial court in a judicial region other than in the National Capital Judicial Region.
The SC agreed with the position of the petitioners, saying that Section 2 of RA No. 10660 clearly provides that the RTC has original and exclusive jurisdiction when the information either does not allege any damage to the government or any bribery; or alleges damage to the government or bribery arising from the same or closely related transactions or acts in an amount not exceeding P1 million.
The provision further stated that such cases falling within the jurisdiction of the RTC shall be tried in a judicial region other than the place where the accused official holds office.
“R.A. No. 10660 took effect in 2015. When the Information against petitioners was filed in 2018, petitioners were still commissioners of the ERC, holding office in Ortigas, Pasig City. The Information also did not allege any amount of damage to the government, or any bribery,” the SC said.
“Applying Section 2 of R.A. No. 10660, the information against petitioners should have been filed in a judicial region outside of the National Capital Judicial Region. Since jurisdiction is a matter of substantive law, the established rule is that the statute in force at the time of the commencement of the action determines the jurisdiction of the court,” it added.
The Court did not give credence to the argument raised by the Office of the Ombudsman and the trial court that until the Court comes up with implementing rules, the application of R.A. 10660 should be considered put on hold.
“The Court cannot enlarge, diminish, or dictate when jurisdiction shall be removed, given that the power to define, prescribe, and apportion jurisdiction is, as a general rule, a matter of legislative prerogative,” the SC explained.
“A void judgment for want of jurisdiction is no judgment at all. All acts performed pursuant to it and all claims emanating from it have no legal effect. The dismissal of the case, thus, follows as a necessary consequence,” it stressed.
The case stemmed from the issuance of ERC Resolution No. 13 and ERC Resolution No. 1 by the petitioners which unilaterally postponed the effectivity of the conduct of competitive selection process (CSP) on all power supply agreements (PSAs).
The CSP rules require power distributors to get at least two offers for supply of electricity before awarding a PSA, ensuring the least cost for electricity consumers.
In a ruling issued last May 3, 2019, the Court voided the said ERC resolutions and directed the ERC to conduct CSP on all PSAs submitted by distribution utilities on or after June 30, 2015.
The SC’s ruling granted the petition filed by the Alyansa Para Sa Bagong Pilipinas along with intervenor Bayan Muna seeking to nullify the assailed resolutions of the ERC.
They claimed that the intention for the issuance of now voided ERC resolutions is to give Meralco and other players more time to enter into self-negotiated PSAs in violation of the CSP policy.