TO PIY BTBI
FIVE big energJr sector conpanies have assured the
House of Repr€€ntatives that they would settle Ptl5
billion in financial obligations to the govemmenL
Earter, Spealer Alan Petercayetano ques[oned the
hilure of the House Committee on Enelgy chaired by
Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco to conduct a
hearing on the m;tter intended to collect bi.llions ofp€s6
owed by power firnrs.
Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defersor, chair-
man of the House Committee on Irublic Accormts, and
Bulacan Rep. Jonathan Sy-Alvarado invited Velasco to
ioin the inquiry since his panel has jurisdiction on the
matter.
The newest commitment came from South Premier
PowerCorp. (SPPC), a subsidiaiy of food and beverage
giant San Miguel Corp.
It was given Wednesda)eto the committee on pdblic
accouits and the committee on good governrnent and
public accountability, which ate conducting an inquiry
into more than P95 billion the state-owned Power Sector
Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corp. has
been collecting from SP PC and other energy producers
and diskibutors.
Cayetano said the House, through its inquiries in aid
of legislation, would raise at least P,l0 billiofl for the
national beasury to help the govenunent f1]nd its pro-
grans, including containing the spread of the coronavi-
rus diserise or COVID-19.
SPPC general manger Elenita Go told the two com-
miftees that SPPC is offering to advance P22.6 billion in
monthlypaymentsto PSALMbetweenthismohthrip to
Jui]e 2O2-
. She said the offer is "without Fejudice" to the SMC
subsidiary pursuing the case it filed against PSALM,
which is pending with Branch 208 of the Mandaluy-
oflg city regional trial court.
SPrc is contesting P23.9 billion in billings made by
PSALM,
- Go said theSMC affiliate would ?aycash" as soon
as the govemment accepts its offer.
On top of the SPPC proposal, Defensor said four
other cocrpanieshave committed to setdeorhave setded
i.6 bi[ion owed to PSALM.
He said the four are Miinila Electric Co4pany (Mer-
alco), whichhasanindebtedness of Pl5billion; Northem
Renewables Generation Cory., which has paid P4.6
bilJion; FDC (Filinvest Developmenl Corp.) MisanJs
PowerCorp.,whichoivesP2.6billion;andFDCUt iti€6,
Inc., which has a P1.2-billion debt.
"We cancollect Pl5billion from Meralcobecause the
office of Solici{or Ceneral Jose Ca-tida is wi.lling to
withdraw its motion for int€rvention that has delayed
the implementation of the settlement agreernent'be
tween Meralco and PSALM," he said.
Def€osor indicated that the House hearings prompt-
ed theel€ctricityprodirc€rs and distributors to paytheir
obligations. '
"Since we started the inquiry, there has been a lot of
mov€m€nl in the energy sector. We have to help the
govef,nm€rtcollect thehuge indebtedness of I'95.4billion
orthiswouldeverrtuallybeabsotbedby Filipino con-
sumers in taars of higher el€ckicity rates," he said.
?OgC. L