Updated
December 22, 2019, 2:26 PM By Tara Yap
The president and
lawyer of a power firm owned by billionaire Enrique Razon Jr. wants the Supreme
Court (SC) to dismiss Judge Daniel Antonio Gerardo Amular of Regional Trial
Court (RTC Branch 35) in Iloilo City for “grave misconduct, gross ignorance of
the law, and violation of the Code of Judicial Ethics.”
The Manila Bulletin
obtained a copy of the December 12 administrative complaint filed against
Amular by Roel Z. Castro and Atty. Hector Teodosio, president and legal counsel
respectively of MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power), respectively.
The complaint against
Amular was in connection with MORE Power’s civil case to take over the assets
and operations of rival Panay Electric Co. (PECO), which was granted in the
government franchise to distribute electricity in this city.
To recall, Amular has
taken over the expropriation case in August following the decision of Judge
Yvette Go of RTC Branch 37 to inhibit herself from the case after issuing a
writ of possession favoring MORE Power to take PECO distribution facilities.
While MORE Power has a
government franchise, it has not been able to distribute power to consumers
since it has no single facility.
Amular was accused of
making good on his earlier threat when he suspended the expropriation
proceedings last November 18.
This was after Amular
had a private conference inside his chamber with Castro and PECO Corporate
Communication Officer Mikel Afzelius, but barred the presence of lawyers of
both MORE Power and PECO.
The suspension of
expropriate proceedings was also due to an SC case wherein MORE Power
questioned a separate ruling by a Mandaluyong City court that declared its
government franchise as unconstitutional as it allegedly trampled on the rights
of PECO.
Amular also allegedly
forced MORE Power to make a larger monetary offer to PECO than what was the
actual worth of PECO’s assets.
“The actuations,
utterances of the respondent Judge, and his issuance of the Order dated
November 18, 2019, showed that he is undeserving to stay on as a judge. He
should be removed,” the complainants urged the SC.
It was the latest
development in the ongoing legal battle for power distribution in Iloilo City,
the regional capital of Western Visayas.
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