DIGEST/Paler, Meg Dianne C._/MORE Electric vs. PECO, G.R. No. 249406, July 1, 2019 on Expropriation. Being peculiarly situated, MORE was validly granted by Sec. 10 of R.A. No. 11212 with a unique power of expropriation. Moreover, given that its distribution system is imbued with public interest, PECO was not unusually prejudiced by the reservation in Section 10 of R.A. No. 11212 to expropriate the property.

 

FACTS:

 

Republic Act No. 11212 ( or known as An Act Granting More Electric and Power Corporation a Franchise to Establish, Operate, and Maintain, for Commercial Purposes and in the Public Interest, a Distribution System for the Conveyance of Electric Power to the End Users in the City of Iloilo, Province of Iloilo, and Ensuring the Continuous and Uninterrupted Supply of Electricity in the Franchise Area) grants to More Electric and Power Corporation (MORE) a franchise to establish, operate and maintain an electric power distribution I Iloilo City.

 

Section 10 and 17 of the law provides that the power and electricity distribution system in Iloilo City, which is owned by the previous franchise holder Panay Electric Company (PECO), may be acquired by MORE through the exercise of the right of eminent domain, and applied to the same public purpose of power distribution in Iloilo City.

 

Thus, after R.A. No. 11212 took effect on December 11, 2018, MORE filed a Complaint for Expropriation with the Regional Trial Court over the distribution system of PECO in Iloilo City.

 

ISSUES:

1.   Whether or not the distribution system of PECO be subjected to expropriation for the same public purpose and power distribution? YES.

2.  Whether or not the expropriation by MORE of PECO’s distribution asset for a genuine public purpose? YES.

 

HELD:

1.  As a general rule, a private property which is already devoted to a public use can be burdened by expropriation with a different public purpose, provided it is expressly authorized by law or necessarily implied by the law.

2.  Expropriation under Sections 10 and 17 of R.A. No. 11212 is not only for the general purpose of electricity distribution. A more distinct public purpose is emphasized which is the protection of the public interest by ensuring the uninterrupted supply of electricity in the city during the transition from the old franchise to the new franchise. This distinct purpose has arisen because MORE is the new franchise holder in a city whose public space is already burdened by an existing distribution system, and that distribution system cannot continue to serve as a public use for it is owned by the old franchise holder.

 

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 digest submitted by Med Dianne Paler