Piki files new case tied to hydro

MANILA, Philippines – Federico “Piki” Lopez has filed a new petition for indirect contempt against the majority block of the Lopez family and several affiliated entities, accusing them of violating a court-issued writ of preliminary injunction through efforts to block or delay a major hydropower transaction involving First Gen Corp.

In the petition filed before the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court on May 29, Piki asked the court to cite for indirect contempt Rafael Lopez, Miguel Ernesto Lopez, Eugenio Lopez III, Martin Lopez, Maria Eugenia Brown, Creme Investment Corp., Presta Holdings Co. Inc., Mantes Corp., Roberta Pilar Feliciano, Maria Margarita Lichauco and Jorge Lichauco.

READ: First Gen says Lopez majority cites old ‘premium’ data

The filing is the latest escalation in the ongoing family dispute that began after the Lopez Inc. board voted on Feb. 27 to remove Piki as president and replace him with Rafael.

Piki challenged that move in court, prompting Branch No. 209 of the Mandaluyong RTC to issue a temporary restraining order and later a writ of preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the board resolutions while the case is pending.

In the latest petition, Piki alleged that the respondents violated the injunction through a series of letters dated May 18, May 23 and May 25 that sought to defer, withhold or prevent the approval, ratification and implementation of actions taken by First Gen and its management in connection with its transaction with Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc.

According to the petition, the letters formed part of a coordinated effort to interfere with the transaction. “Their acts were not isolated, independent or accidental. They were successive, coordinated, and directed toward the same objective: to prevent or undermine the recognition, ratification, approval and implementation of First Gen’s approved corporate action involving the Prime Infrastructure Transaction,” Piki said in the filing.

He argued that the respondents used their positions as majority shareholders and directors within the Lopez group to pressure corporate officers and directors to reject or withhold approval of actions that had already been approved by the First Gen board.

READ: P50-B ‘premium’ in Lopez-Razon hydropower deal questioned

The petition said the Prime Infra transaction had been unanimously approved by First Gen’s board last Feb. 13. It also claimed that the transaction was among the matters raised during the Feb. 27 Lopez Inc. board meeting, which decided to remove Piki from his post.

Piki further alleged that the letters amounted to an attempt to accomplish indirectly what the court had prohibited the respondents from doing directly under the injunction. INQ