Malampaya funds ‘for energy projects only’

Rappler.com

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Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla addresses concerns the multi-billion-peso funds from the Malampaya project are illegally used

ENERGY USE ONLY. Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla says proceeds from the Malampaya natural gas project are meant for energy-related projects only. File photo by Rappler

MANILA, Philippines – Proceeds from the Malampaya natural gas project could only be used for energy-related projects, an official said following reports that controversial businesswoman Janet Napoles illegally accessed funds from the Palawan project.

Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla stressed this when reporters asked about the scandal on the sidelines of the Philippine economic briefing on Tuesday, September 17.

LIVE BLOG: Philippine economic briefing 2013

The Malampaya funds — which he said amounted to P130 billion as of August — remained untouched. This amid the report that Napoles got P900 million of Malampaya fund through the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in 2009 with the help of a government official.

READ: Agriculture ‘asec’ helped Napoles access Malampaya fund 

“The President already said that the interpretation [of the Presidential Decree 910] is really [to use the Malampaya funds for projects that are] energy-related, so you can be assured that for the term of the president, it will not be used for any other project other than energy-related,” Petilla said.

In an August budget at the House of Representatives, the minority bloc showed records that revealed that the largest amount of disbursements from the fund since 2004 — which covers both the administration of President Benigno Aquino III and former president and now Pampanga Rep Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo — went to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) at P8.03-B.

READ: Solons want closer scrutiny of Malampaya funds

According to Petilla, the Aquino administration has so far spent about P15 billion of the Malampaya fund to finance, among others, the P4 billion allocation for the diesel power generation sets for Mindanao and P2 billion for the Pantawid Pasada program.

This is less than the estimated P20 billion the government of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has spent from the Malampaya funds, Petilla said.

To safeguard fund releases, the Department of Energy will push for the issuance of a Clarificatory Executive Order to ensure that “the interpretation is very clear that it’s for energy related projects,” he said. 

Total collection from the Malampaya fund, which involves royalties of the government from the Malampaya gas-to-power project in northwest Palawan and other oil and gas projects has reached around P167 billion to date.

The Malampaya Fund comes from proceeds of the Malampaya natural gas project that has been operating off the shores of Palawan since 2001. It has since paid the government more than $4 billion in revenues.

READ: Pork for the president

However, until the Supreme Court resolves the sharing scheme between the national government and the host local government, the President has full control over the way the Malampaya Fund can be spent. DAR has been one of its biggest recipients. – Rappler.com

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