526 Phil. 325
CARPIO MORALES, J.:
Manifestation having filed by plaintiff through counsel alleging that a Writ of Preliminary Mandatory Injunction be issued the Order dated December 22, 2003 is hereby set aside.The immediately above-quoted Order of January 9, 2004 (first order) was likewise set aside by public respondent by Order also of January 9, 2004 (second order) reading:
Considering that the plaintiff has showed sufficient reasons alleged in the complaint and the affidavit of plaintiff as well as the evidence presented during the hearing of this case that a Writ of Preliminary Injunction should issue, the plaintiff is hereby required to post a bond as required by law in the sum of TEN THOUSAND (P10,000.00) PESOS, Philippine Currency for approval of the Court within five (5) days from receipt hereof.
SO ORDERED.[10] (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)
Under consideration is the Manifestation by plaintiff through counsel alleging that a Writ of Preliminary Mandatory Injunction be issued and finding the same to be well taken, the Orders dated December 22, 2003 and January 9, 2004 is (sic) hereby set aside.Public respondent explains that she set aside the Order of December 22, 2003 and the first Order of January 9, 2004 to incorporate, in her second January 9, 2004 Order (second paragraph thereof), the word "mandatory," Carmencita having prayed for the reconnection, not prohibition of the disconnection, of her electric service line.[12]
It appearing, further that the plaintiff has showed sufficient reasons alleged in the complaint and the affidavit of plaintiff as well as the evidence presented during the hearing of this case that a Writ of Preliminary Mandatory Injunction should issue, the plaintiff is hereby required to post a bond as required by law in the sum of TEN THOUSAND (P10,000.00) PESOS, Philippine Currency for approval of the Court within five (5) days from receipt hereof.
SO ORDERED.[11] (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)
Petitioner argues that the inspection conducted on November 10, 2003 which resulted in the discovery of the illegal electrical connection, as well as the disconnection of the electric service, was done in full compliance with the requirements of Republic Act No. 7832, "ANTI-ELECTRICITY AND ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION LINES/MATERIALS PILFERAGE ACT OF 1994" – in the presence of a police officer, with notice of disconnection, albeit after the act, duly served on Carmencita's representative containing its findings and differential billing.[16] It further argues that the said law allows "automatic" disconnection by the electric utility in case of illegal use of electricity.[17]I
. . . IN ISSUING THE WRIT OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION IN THE ABSENCE OF BAD FAITH ON THE PART OF THE PETITIONER IN EXERCISING ITS RIGHT UNDER THE LAW; [AND]II
. . . IN REQUIRING THE PRIVATE RESPONDENTS TO POST AN INJUNCTION BOND NOT IN THE AMOUNT OF THE DIFFERENTIAL BILLING BEING CLAIMED BY THE PETITIONER AS REQUIRED BY RA 7832.[15] (Underscoring supplied)
SECTION 9. Restriction on the Issuance of Restraining Orders or Writs of Injunction. – No writ of injunction or restraining order shall be issued by any court against any private electric utility or rural electric cooperative exercising the right and authority to disconnect electric service as provided in this Act, unless there is prima facie evidence that the disconnection was made with evident bad faith or grave abuse of authority. (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)Unless, therefore, there is prima facie evidence that the disconnection of electric service was made with evident bad faith or grave abuse of authority, a writ of injunction or restraining order may not issue against any private electric utility or rural electric cooperative exercising the right and authority to disconnect such service.
SECTION 4. Prima Facie Evidence. — (a) The presence of any of the following circumstances shall constitute prima facie evidence of illegal use of electricity, as defined in this Act, by the person benefitted thereby, and shall be the basis for: (1) the immediate disconnection by the electric utility to such person after due notice, (2) the holding of a preliminary investigation by the prosecutor and the subsequent filing in court of the pertinent information, and (3) the lifting of any temporary restraining order or injunction which may have been issued against a private electric utility or rural electric cooperative:And even if the consumer is caught in flagrante delicto committing the acts enumerated in Section 4(a), Section 6 of the same law still requires prior written notice or warning, thus:
x x x x
(v) The presence in any part of the building or its premises which is subject to the control of the consumer or on the electric meter, of a current reversing transformer, jumper, shorting and/or shunting wire, and/or loop connection or any other similar device;
x x x x (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)
SECTION 6. Disconnection of Electric Service. — The private electric utility or rural electric cooperative concerned shall have the right and authority to disconnect immediately the electric service after serving a written notice or warning to that effect, without the need of a court or administrative order, and deny restoration of the same, when the owner of the house or establishment concerned or someone acting in his behalf shall have been caught in flagrante delicto doing any of the acts enumerated in Section 4(a) hereof, or when any of the circumstances so enumerated shall have been discovered for the second time: Provided, That in the second case, a written notice or warning shall have been issued upon the first discovery x x x (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)Petitioner's argument that immediate disconnection under the circumstances surrounding the case validly dispenses with prior notice of disconnection thus fails.
Section 9.It appears, however, that petitioner did not avail of such remedy to afford the trial court opportunity to assess the probable relative damages[24] which petitioner and herein private respondent Carmencita may suffer.
x x x x
If, notwithstanding the provisions of this section, a court issues an injunction or restraining order, such injunction or restraining order shall be effective only upon the filing of a bond with the court which shall be in the form of cash or cashier's check equivalent to the "differential billing," penalties and other charges, or to the total value of the subject matter of the action: Provided, however, That such injunction or restraining order shall automatically be refused or, if granted, shall be dissolved upon filing by the public utility of a counterbond similar in form and amount as that above required: Provided, finally, That whenever such injunction is granted, the court issuing it shall, within ten (10) days from its issuance, submit a report to the Supreme Court setting forth in detail the grounds or reason for its order. (Emphasis and underscoring supplied)
For purposes of this Act, "differential billing" shall refer to the amount to be charged to the person concerned for the unbilled electricity illegally consumed by him as determined through the use of methodologies which utilize, among others, as basis for determining the amount of monthly electric consumption in kilowatt-hours to be billed, either: (a) the highest recorded monthly consumption within the five-year billing period preceding the time of the discovery, (b) the estimated monthly consumption as per the report of load inspection conducted during the time of discovery, (c) the higher consumption between the average consumptions before or after the highest drastic drop in consumption within the five-year billing period preceding the discovery, (d) the highest recorded monthly consumption within four (4) months after the time of discovery, or (e) the result of the ERB test during the time of discovery and, as basis for determining the period to be recovered by the differential billing either: (1) the time when the electric service of the person concerned recorded an abrupt or abnormal drop in consumption, or (2) when there was a change in his service connection such as a change of meter, change of seal or reconnection, or in the absence thereof, a maximum of sixty (60) billing months up to the time of discovery: Provided, however, That such period shall, in no case, be less than one (1) year preceding the date of discovery of the illegal use of electricity.[21] Vide: Manila Electric Company v. Macro Textile Mills Corporation, G.R. No. 126243, January 18, 2002, 374 SCRA 69, 82.
Not only did respondent show how the meter examination had been conducted by its experts, but it also established the amount of P193,332.96 that petitioners owed respondent. The procedure through which this amount was arrived at was testified to by Meralco's senior billing computer, Enrique Katipunan. His testimony was corroborated by documentary evidence showing the account's billing history and the corresponding computations. Neither do we doubt the documents of inspections and examinations presented by respondent to prove that, indeed, there had been meter tampering that resulted in unrecorded and unpaid electrical consumption.[22] 42 Am Jur 864.