Makati-Taguig territorial row elevated to SC anew

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

THE Taguig City government is eyeing to take over from Makati City’s jurisdiction the 729-hectare Fort Bonifacio Military Reservation, including the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) complex and several barangays, which the Supreme Court (SC) earlier declared to be part of the former’s territory.

This was revealed by Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano as she officially asked SC to direct Makati C ity Mayor Abigail “Abby” Binay to “show cause” why she should not be sanctioned for her “improper conduct” in connection w ith her recent pronouncements related to the territorial dispute.

Cayetano personally led the filing of an extremely urgent manifestation with motion ad cautelam a gainst Binay.

“Wherefore, respondent City of Taguig most respectfully prays that the Honorable Court grant leave and admit this manifestation with motion and, after due c onsideration, require petitioner City of Makati and Mayor Abigail Binay to show cause why they should not be sanctioned,” the manifestation read.

The Taguig City government was referring to Binay’s “troubling” claim in media interviews t hat they received an order setting the case involving the Fort Bonifacio Military Reservation areas fo r a hearing or oral arguments.

Following Binay’s claim, Cayetano said Taguig’s legal team w ent to the SC to inquire on the existence of an order or document setting the case for hearing or oral arguments.

The Taguig mayor said lawyer Warren San Jose of Taguig’s Legal Office was able to confirm with the staff of the SC’s Third Division, which is handling the issue, t hat no such order or resolution has been issued.

Cayetano, however, admitted that Binay’s camp has filed a second motion for reconsideration, which is considered a prohibited pleading, of the Court’s final ruling on the case issued last April 2023.

“Mayor Binay insinuates that the Honorable Court favorably granted ex parte, at least its prayer for oral arguments when there appears to be no such order or document, and especially because respondent City of Taguig has not even been asked to comment,” the six-page manifestation said.

“How then can petitioner or Mayor Binay honestly claim that there is an order setting the case for oral arguments when she admitted in her interview that there i s yet no action on petitioner’s omnibus motion? By its stories, petitioner City of Makati makes it appear that they have ‘insider information’ not officially available to the public or even to the o ther parties,” it added.

It also told the Court that it has received some information over the past several days claiming that the Makati government has gained the support of certain top government officials on its apparent bid t o reopen the land dispute case.

“While such social media post could have been dismissed as nothing more than ‘fake news,’ an interview with Mayor Abigail Binay subsequently surfaced which e choed the same message that the fight is allegedly not yet over, and appeared to support and confirm the social media post on the supposed ‘reopening’ alluded to in t he post above,” the manifestation read.

While this claim turned out to be totally false, it appeared to support the social media posts about the proposed reopening of the case,” Cayetano said, referring to the posts that claimed Mayor Binay allegedly spoke to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, who “all supposedly promised to help reopen the case.”

The posts went viral days before Mayor Binay’s media interviews.

According to Cayetano, the social media posts insinuate that there’s an attempt to interfere with the independence of the judiciary.

That tends to put a cloud of doubt on the impartiality of the SC and the integrity of the judicial system,” she said.

She noted that Binay is a lawyer, and, therefore, an officer of t he court who has an obligation not to issue any false or misleading statement about the case, nor g ive the appearance of influencing the court and undermining its independence.

Preparing for ‘transition’

MEANWHILE, Cayetano said Taguig’s transition team, together with concerned government agencies, has started meeting for the s mooth and peaceful takeover of the subject property.

The mayor added that she is hoping to be able to execute the Court’s ruling within the year.

“Yes of course. We respect the Court’s decision and part of honoring that decision is to ensure that t here will be a smooth transition process...” Cayetano said when asked if she is eying to assume jurisdiction over the property within the year.

Cayetano said the Taguig government remains open for a dialogue with Makati City officials fo r the transition process.

When asked how the transition can be implemented without B inay’s cooperation, Cayetano answered: “Well, it’s gonna be unfortunate if Mayor Binay will not cooperate in the transition process but we are already coordinating with other government a gencies.”

Cayetano insisted that the Court has written “finis” to the controversy, as an entry of judgment has been issued by the Court l egally certifying that the decision in its favor has become final and executory.

Last April, the Court’s Third Division issued a statement that it will not entertain any further pleadings, motions, letters or other communications in connection w ith the territorial dispute.

Mayor Abby’s camp: We’re ready to answer manifestation REACTING to Cayetano’s filing of a motion seeking sanction against

Binay, Makati City Administrator Claro Certeza said they are ready to answer Taguig’s manifestation before the SC.

However, Certeza questioned the social media posts invoked by Taguig in its manifestation, which it said have “dubious authorship, accuracy, and credibility.”

These social media posts invoked by Taguig have made outrageous and irresponsible allegations against the President, the F irst Lady and the Court itself. They have been ignored by credible media outlets and for good r eason. No right thinking lawyer would petition the High Court on the basis of these posts. Yet, Taguig, displaying unfathomable wisdom, has chosen to do so,” Certeza said.

Mayor Abby Binay is currently in London to attend the London Tech Week and a garden reception at 10 Downing Street hosted b y Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Entry of judgment done SC Spokesman Brian Hosaka said the Court’s Special Third Division has already ordered the entry of judgment after it affirmed with finality its December 1, 2021, declaring that t he contested land is part of the territory of Taguig City.

Hosaka issued the clarification after the Makati City government said it has filed an omnibus motion asking the SC to hear the case en banc, a legal recourse that is provided for under Section 2 Rule 2 of t he SC Internal Rules.

However, Hosaka said the plea to refer the case before the Court en banc was also denied by the SC Third Division, noting, “The Court en banc is not an Appellate Court to which decisions or resolutions of a Division may be appealed.”

The Court has permanently barred Makati City from exercising jurisdiction over, making improvements on, or otherwise treating as part of its territory Parcels 3 a nd 4, Psu 2031, comprising Fort Bonifacio, including the so-called Inner Fort comprising of Barangays Pembo, Comembo, Cembo, S outh Cembo, West Rembo, East Rembo and Pitogo.

The Philippine Army headquarters, Navy installation, Marines H eadquarters, Consular area, JUSMAG area, Heritage Park, Libingan n g mga Bayani, AFP Officers Village and the so-called six villages a re situated within the said areas. With Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Meralco told to exercise ‘extraordinary diligence’ as Naia’s power distributor

ALAWMAKER on Tuesday reminded the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to exercise “extraordinary diligence” following its reported admission that personnel employed by its subsidiary may have committed a “procedural lapse” that caused the most recent power outage at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s (Naia) Terminal 3.

Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Brian Raymund

Yamsuan pointed out that on top of its obligation to the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), which oversees Naia’s operations, to provide electricity, the power distribution firm has a greater responsibility to the people it serves because it is a public utility.

“Ex ercising extreme caution or extraordinary diligence should not be forgotten by Meralco when it comes to providing its services to the public,” the lawmaker said.

Mer alco apologized to the public over the weekend after reportedly admitting that Meralco Energy Inc. (MServ) personnel accidentally caused the 37-minute power outage at Naia 3 on Friday June 9, 2023.

MS erv, a wholly owned subsidiary of Meralco, was reportedly testing Naia 3’s electrical facilities when one of its employees accidentally left grounding conductors attached to an electrical equipment, which triggered the outage that started from 12:50 p.m. and lasted until 1:29 p.m. S even flights were delayed due to the power interruption, but none was canceled.

Yamsuan said that an apology may not be enough to get Meralco off the hook because if it is proven that the “procedural lapse” was due to Meralco’s negligence or failure to exercise extraordinary diligence. The lawmaker said Meralco could even be held liable under the law.

Under the pr ovisions of the New Civil Code, an establishment or enterprise is held responsible for damages caused by their employees “on the occasion of their functions.”

“We have been pounding at MIAA officials and blaming them for the power outages at the airport during the congressional hearings held on this issue. Now that Meralco is at fault, is an apology enough?” Yamsuan asked.

The House Committee on Transportation chaired by Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop earlier held several hearings on the power outages that occurred at the entire Naia last January 1 and at the Naia Terminal 3 on May 1 of this year. Yamsuan is a member of the committee.

The January 1 power outage shut down the country’s airspace, which left around 65,000 passengers stranded a nd o ver 300 flights grounded. The May 1 power interruption affected more than 9,000 passengers.

Yamsuan said the latest power outage at Naia Terminal 3 may not have been as severe as the previous incidents, but it has undoubtedly tarnished the country’s image before the international community.

T he Bicol Saro lawmaker recalled that during one of the hearings, APEC Party-list Rep. Sergio Dagooc had questioned why Meralco service personnel were not on standby at Naia to man the power distributor’s substations at the airport and ensure that the supply of electric power remains uninterrupted.

Mer alco reportedly bills the MIAA about P40 million a month for providing electricity to the country’s premier international gateway. Dagooc pointed out that being a big consumer, MIAA deserves to be provided with value-added services by Meralco.

“I agr ee with our esteemed colleague, Congressman Dagooc that MIAA should review its agreement with Meralco to ensure that Meralco delivers its services with utmost efficiency,” Yamsuan said.

Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

DOE to form team to audit and assess performance of TNP, system provider

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

THE Department of Energy (DOE) is creating a performance assessment and audit (PAA) team for the operations of the transmission network provider (TNP) and system operator (SO).

Department Order No. 2023-06-18 stated that the conduct of the PAA is meant “to establish a comprehensive and sustainable mechanism to confirm and validate the level of compliance” of the TNP and SO. This will then be the basis for the DOE or the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to recommend to Congress any actions to be taken in respect of the franchise and as basis for Congress to act upon such recommendations.

Section 46 of the EPIRA (Electric Power Industry Reform Act) states that Congress may, upon recommendation of the DOE