The Supreme Court (SC) is standing pat on its decision to stop the sale of the 246-megawatt hydroelectric power plant (HEPP) component of Angat Dam in Bulacan.

In a June 29 resolution which was released only on Monday, the SC turned down the request of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) to lift the status quo ante order it issued on the Angat Dam case.

“The Court resolved to deny the Urgent Motion to Lift Status Quo Ante Order for lack of merit,” stated a notice of resolution signed by SC En Banc Assistant Clerk of Court Felipa Anama.

PSALM officials refused to comment,saying that they have yet to receive a copy of the High Tribunal's decision.

The High Court maintained its earlier decision, finding the petition filed by several cause-oriented groups led by the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) against the planned sale of the hydro facility to be “sufficient in form and substance.”

The groups argued that PSALM committed grave abuse of discretion when it conducted the bidding of Angat HEPP “in secrecy and in disregard of the people’s right to information, right to water, and in violation of its mandate and the Constitution.”

Under Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), PSALM is mandated to privatize all the assets of the National Power Corp., including the Angat HEPP.

PSALM, in its comment, said there was nothing illegal with the sale of the hydro facility and that the bidding process was transparent and objective.

The asset management firm also moved for the lifting of the status quo ante order, but this was denied by the SC in its recent ruling.

Last May 24, or exactly one week after he assumed office, Chief Justice Renato C. Corona issued the order preventing PSALM and other government agencies from proceeding with the sale of the HEPP facility to Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-Water), a water firm wholly owned and controlled by the South Korean government.

Corona’s order received concurrence from other SC justices during a full-court session held last June 16.

Last month, K-Water filed a manifestation with the SC, saying it complied with all the requirements imposed by PSALM to be able to qualify for the bidding.

K-Water stressed it won the auction fair and square after submitting its letter of interest, executing a confidentiality agreement and an undertaking in the forms provided by PSALM, and paying a non-refundable bidding fee.

After having been pre-qualified to join, K-Water said it went on to submit the highest bid for the project in the amount of $440.8 million.

Besides PSALM and K-Water, also named respondents in the case are the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), National Irrigation Administration (NIA), and five other companies that took part in the bidding process for Angat HEPP.

The five are First Gen Northern Energy Corp., San Miguel Corp., SN Aboitiz Power-Pangasinan, Inc., Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp., and DMCI Power Corp.

According to FDC and other petitions, PSALM acted with grave abuse of discretion amounting to excess of jurisdiction when it allowed a foreign-owned corporation to participate in the bidding process, which is in violation of Article XII, Section 2 of 1987 Constitution, the Water Code of the Philippines, and the EPIRA law.

They pointed out that PSALM commenced with the bidding process without having previously released to the public, critical information pertinent to the sale of the public asset.

PSALM likewise refused to divulge information on the bidding and pursued a bidding process that is not open and transparent, and one that discriminatorily limited participation to private sectors, they added.