THE provincial government of Bohol thru provincial Legal Officer Handel Lagunay has said that the sale of the Bohol Light Company, Inc., without the prior consent of the former as claimed by the critics is wrong.
The critics, apparently referred to former OGAR vice-chair and city ex-mayor Dan Neri Lim and companions, argued that BLCI sale to Primelectric company violated Article 13 of the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) entered into by the provincial government and the Salcon almost 25 years back. They said that the sale of BLCI had no “prior written consent” as provided for by the JVA.
The said JVA also gave birth to what is now the BLCI, formerly Provincial Electric System (PES) of the Provincial Public Utilities Department (PPUD), that distributed electricity in the city.
Lagunay pointed out that article 13 of the JVA is not applicable under circumstances. Such as the Sangguniang Panlalawigan has given a go-signal by passing Resolution Number 2024-649, declining to buy-back the BLCI’s 70% share of the agreement. It’s “implied consent, not necessarily expressed consent,” Lagunay told Capitol Reports on Friday.
As to the allegation that the provincial government is negligent as it allowed the BLCI sale without such prior consent. Lagunay said that the provincial government cannot be accused of being negligent since by SP passage of the said Resolution.
“The sale by the group of SPC Power to Primelectric Holdings is without prior written approval of the Provincial Government of Bohol. It is a violation of Article 13 of the JVA.” This is being expound by Atty. Bungabong during the press conference.
The group said that since this a clear violation, the Capitol “should terminate the JVA by reimbursing SPC Power their P52.5 million capital (70% of BLCI).”
The group also believed that Capitol could have earned more than the P350 million from the sale of BLCI (with 70% share at P6.67/share) if it conducted a public bidding.
Since the BLCI was already sold to Primelectric, the group alleged that the leadership of the Capitol “don’t want the Provincial Government to earn a massive windfall from the reprivatization of 70% of BLCI.”
Dan Lim’s group said that transaction favoring a private consortium instead of the province is tantamount to graft corruption and fits the definition of the corruption under section (3(e) of the Republic Act No. 3019.
The group said that they are so concerned about this since graft and corruption deprive the people, the consumers and should be protected.
And this is considering that that the consumers of BLCI “have P193.9 million of deposits in BLCI” based on the financial position of the BLCI as provided for by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
His runningmate (for vice-gov.) provincial board member Gerry Garcia along with Atty. Bryan Pelandas and Ronnie Orillosa also attended the recent press conference called by Lim at MetroCenter Hotel. (rvo)
