GR 35280; (November, 1932) (CRITIQUE)
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THE AI-ASSISTED CRITIQUE
The trial court correctly held that the plaintiff’s municipal franchises were not exclusive, as nothing in the resolutions or approvals granted an exclusive privilege. The governing principle, as cited from Corpus Juris, is that in the absence of an express stipulation, a franchise is not exclusive. The appellant’s claim of an implied exclusive right to all electrical infrastructure within the municipal boundaries finds no support in the franchise instruments or the law. The court properly rejected the theory that a franchise to operate a local plant inherently confers an exclusive easement over the municipal airspace for all wires, which would create an unreasonable monopoly not intended by the granting authorities.

The central legal flaw in the appellant’s position is its conflation of a franchise to sell electricity within a municipality with a proprietary right to exclude all other wires from municipal airspace. The defendant’s transmission line, which merely passed through the municipalities without selling or distributing power therein, did not operate as a competing public service within the meaning of the plaintiff’s franchises. The court correctly distinguished between the use of a public highway for through transmission—arguably authorized by the provincial board’s permit—and the operation of a public utility for local consumption, which would require a municipal franchise. The appellant failed to demonstrate that the mere physical presence of the defendant’s wires constituted an infringement of its operational rights or a diversion of its customer base.

Regarding damages and the injunction, the court’s analysis is sound. The claim for P20,000 in damages was properly dismissed for lack of competent proof, resting on mere speculation about potential future harm to business or hypothetical wire collisions. The writ of preliminary injunction was correctly dissolved, as the plaintiff failed to establish a clear legal right to the relief sought. The appellant’s substantive claims of franchise violation being untenable, the ancillary plea for injunctive relief necessarily failed. The decision underscores that injunctive relief requires a showing of a violation of a specific right, not merely the theoretical possibility of future interference.