Court of Appeals junks motion vs Red Bull maker

MANILA, Philippines—The Court of Appeals (CA) has rejected the motion for reconsideration filed by a former distributor of Red Bull energy drink, allowing the Thai manufacturer of Red Bull to designate another distributor in the Philippines.

The appellate court issued a resolution on July 31, 2012, denying for lack of merit the motion for reconsideration filed by Energy Food and Drinks Inc. (Efdi) on an earlier ruling issued by the court.

On Sept. 16, 2011, Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro-Javier of the Court of Appeals’ fourth division issued a decision granting the petition for certiorari filed by TC Pharmaceutical Industry Company Ltd. (TCPI) of Thailand and nullified the writ of preliminary injunction issued by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 217 Judge Santiago M. Arenas who stopped TCPI from choosing a new distributor of Red Bull.

TCPI terminated its exclusive distributorship agreement with Efdi, led by businessman Renato Chua, on Oct. 31, 2008. TCPI then designated Maryland Distributors Inc. as the authorized and exclusive importer of Red Bull in the Philippines until December 2015.

In the latest ruling, Court of Appeals Associate Justice Rebecca de Guia Salvador said Judge Arenas “clearly abused his discretion in issuing the writ of preliminary injunction sought by Efdi” on Jan. 19, 2011, and May 16, 2011.

“From the records of the case, neither was Efdi able to show that it would suffer serious and irreparable damage as a consequence of TCPI’s termination of the parties agreement,” the court said.