Leonen raps party-list group at power rate hike oral arguments

Associate Justice Marvic Leonen. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen on Tuesday lashed out at representatives of a party-list group during the oral arguments regarding the power rate hike that the Manila Electric Cooperative implemented on its consumers.

Leonen asked Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate why his group went straight to the high court regarding the generation charges before discussing the matter with the Energy Regulatory Commission.

The Associate Justice added that the ERC has the original and exclusive jurisdiction over all cases regarding power rates through Republic Act 9146.

Zarate, though, backed up Leonen’s statement on the original jurisdiction of ERC but said that the commission “abandoned their duty to protect their consumers.”

Leonen, however, said that the issues that Zarate raised were technical in nature and recommended that Bayan Muna go back to ERC to resolve the issue.

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