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By William B. Depasupil
Reporter
THE last remaining legal obstacle
to the state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management
Corp.’s (PSALM) recent bidding and awarding for the 25-year
concession of electric grid operator National Transmission Corp. (TransCo)
is finally over.
This came following the decision
of a disqualified bidder, the La Costa Development Corp., to
withdraw its petition before the Supreme Court. The firm’s
petition assailed the ruling of a Makati Regional Trial Court that
dismissed its complaint questioning its disqualification by the
PSALM from participating in the TransCo bid held in December last
year.
In a three-page motion, La Costa,
through Lawyer Napoleon Poblador, asked the High Court to consider
its petition against PSALM, Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp. and Judge
Cedrick Ruiz of Makati dismissed or withdrawn, because it has lost
interest in pursuing the case against the respondents.
“Petitioner respectfully
manifests that it has lost interest in prosecuting the instant
petition. The petitioner is instead desirous of moving on with its
other business,” La Costa said in its motion to withdraw petition.
“So as not to waste any of this
Court’s valuable time and attention, petitioner deems it best that
the petition be dismissed or considered withdrawn.”
La Costa is a consortium of a
Filipino group led by former Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo and
Salvador Zamora, and the Canadian giant SNC Lavallin. Salvador is
the brother of opposition Rep. Ronaldo Zamora.
The 25-year right to operate
TransCo was awarded to a consortium composed of Monte Oro Grid
Resources Corp., owned by businessman Enrique Razon Jr., and Calaca
High Power Corp.
La Costa had earlier sought the
High Tribunal’s intervention to stop the Makati court from
enforcing its final ruling in favor of PSALM. The court threw out La
Costa’s plea to overturn its disqualification from the TransCo
bidding.
The judge dismissed La Costa’s
petition, saying it failed to prove it has the required financial
resources to join the bidding of TransCo. The judge also threw out
La Costa’s motion for inhibition.
Cannot fund equity investment
Court records showed that the
firm allegedly failed to prove its ability to fund the equity
investment of not less than $300 million as shown by its own bank
certification.
The Makati City court said
PSALM’s bids and awards committee had a vested right to
pre-qualify, assess and approve bidders who qualify, and approve or
nullify the entire bidding process. He said La Costa submitted
itself to PSALM’s jurisdiction the moment it applied for
pre-qualification and was informed of the bidding requirements.
PSALM’s bids and awards
committee subsequently found “as lacking in form and substance”
La Costa’s bank certification, which led to the firm’s
disqualification from the bidding.
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