By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
I just met with officers or representatives of Hedcor for them to shed light on the case they filed against BENECO for interfering with the efforts of Hedcor to obtain the Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) of the people of Kabayan. The consent is for the people to agree to the project of Hedcor to construct a run-of-river minihydro plant which will produce electricity. Naturally, there will be money for the people and the community of Kabayan as electicity is expensive and Hedcor will be paying royalties during the life of the project.
Then came the news that the people of Kabayan reportedly denied Hedcor their consent by just about five votes. Hedcor denied this as they have not yet received any official communication to that effect from the NCIP.
Hedcor, however, filed a case to stop BENECO from interfering with the efforts of Hedcor to obtain the Free and Prior Informed Consent of the Kabayan people. The regional trial court of Benguet issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) which bars BENECO from doing such interference. But the order is only good for three days or 72 hours. It had already expired.
Within that period, the branch of the court to which the case was raffled was supposed to conduct hearings and then decide whether or not to extend the TRO up to 20 days which includes the mentioned three days.
If the court so decides to extend it to 20 days, then it will conduct marathon hearings within that period to determine whether or not it will grant the prayer of Hedcor for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction which, in simple terms, means the alleged interference of BENECO would be banned while the case is pending—which in this country can mean forever or almost forever.
As I learned from the Hedcor people, the case was raffled to Branch 63 of the court but the presiding judge there, Judge Jennifer Humiding, is in the States and would be arriving on the 12th of this month. This means there is no more TRO against BENECO but Hedcor would surely be vigilant to gather more evidence of interference, if there is any, which is against the law.
Upon the judge’s return, however, the matter will be heard and BENECO just might be prohibited from interfering with the FPIC process. Yet, she still has to hear the case, and then thereafter decide.
With this backdrop, and from the copy of the petition in the said case filed by Hedcor, there is apparent evidence that BENECO tried to get the people of Kabayan to enter into an agreement with it to come up with a partnership for the putting up of a hydropower plant to produce electricity from its water resources which is the same as what Hedcor is after. Well, the motive is also the same. BENECO and Hedcor are after the profit such water will generate through the production of electric power.
The apparent interest of more than one party on the water resources of Kabayan can be good for the Kabayan people. This is however on the assumption that indeed BENECO is interested on the matter as stated in the petition of Hedcor which was only backed by a supposed proposed MOA (Memorandum of Agreement) and a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). But BENECO can deny these more so that the allegation came from one of Hedcor’s officers. So there is also a need to sit down with its representatives and we will do so as this case is becoming more and more interesting. Its response to the case which will be forthcoming shall also be discussed here after we finish with Hedcor’s petition which might entail a number of installments of this article.
At any rate, from the alleged proposed MOA attached to the aforesaid petition, the proposal of BENECO to the Kabayan people are quite juicy. Yes there will be money for the community and for the people, but I am sure there will be more for some of the people.
But Hedcor will not just sit on its rights. It might end up offering more. As of now, however, it alone has the right to try and get the free consent of the Kabayan people as it is the first applicant for the project. Under the law, it is “first come, first served.”
The hope of BENECO is to get the Kabayan people to reject Hedcor’s attempt. But that would be undue interference which is what the case is all about. (To be continued next week).**
