First Gen still pursuing Angat hydropower plant

First Gen Corp. is hoping a favorable Supreme Court decision would allow it to acquire the 246-megawatt Angat hydroelectric power plant in the province of Bulacan.

South Korea’s K-Water was declared the highest bidder with an offer of $440.8 million. However, the Supreme Court issued in May 2010 a “status quo ante order” against the sale of the Angat hydroelectric power plant to K-Water.

First Gen Northern Energy Corp. —a three-way alliance involving Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Ayala Corp. and First Gen—offered the second-highest bid price during an auction held in 2010, next to K Water. 

The Supreme Court also denied the plea of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. to lift the restriction.

In 2011, some groups filed a memorandum with the Supreme Court to reiterate their plea to stop the sale of the government-owned Angat hydroelectric facility, for violating the Constitution, the law and due process.

Petitioners then stressed that PSALM acted with grave abuse of discretion when it proceeded with the bidding without releasing to the public critical information pertinent to the sale of the public asset, such as terms and conditions.

PSALM, the petitioners added, overstepped its mandate and jurisdiction in unilaterally undertaking the public bidding and sale of Angat facility, and in not offering to sell the power plant to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System and National Irrigation Administration.

For more.