The Supreme Court has declared void Resolutions No. 2002-124 and 2002-125 issued by the Board of Directors of the National Power Corporation (NPC) three years ago. The assailed resolutions ordered the termination of all employees of the NPC pursuant to Republic Act No. 9136 otherwise known as the "Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001" (EPIRA Law). Petitioners are employees of the NPC who filed a special civil action for injunction to stop NPC from implementing the resolutions.
In a decision written by Associate Justice Minita V. Chico-Nazario, the high court nullified the resolutions because they were not duly approved by the NPC Board of Directors. Four (4) out the nine (9) members of the board, namely, the Secretaries of the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the Department of Finance, as well as the Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority, were not present at the time the resolutions were enacted. They were simply represented by their respective alternates whose signatures were affixed on the assailed resolutions. The court said this is a violation of the duty imposed upon the said officials who are supposed to exercise their judgment and discretion in running the affairs of the NPC, as stated in Section 48 of the EPIRA Law. The court explained that "the department secretaries cannot delegate their duties as members of the NPC Board much less their power to vote and approve board resolutions, because it is their personal judgment that must be exercised in the fulfillment of such responsibility."
