Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 17) — The Senate Energy Committee is now looking into undoing the deal involving the sale of shares in the Malampaya natural gas facility to Udenna Corporation, Sen. Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian, the panel’s chairman, said Wednesday.
“That’s what we’re studying. We’re studying it very carefully if this can be undone but definitely there’s a basis to, if possible, undo the transaction to protect the Filipino people,” Gatchalian said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum.
Gatchalian’s committee has been looking into the Dennis Uy-led firm’s acquisition of its stake in the gas project, which now stands at 90% following the sale of Chevron’s and Shell’s respective 45% shares in Malampaya.
The senator noted that the lack of a proper evaluation from the Department of Energy (DOE) of Udenna’s capability could mean it is not qualified to run the facility. Should something go wrong with Malampaya, up to 4 million households and 20% of the country’s power supply could be affected, he added.
“Ang gobyernong dapat protektahan tayo, niluto ‘yung transaction. Tayo ngayon ang kawawa,” lamented Gatchalian.
[Translation: The government that was supposed to protected us cooked up the transaction instead. Now it’s us who are aggrieved.]
The senator said the transaction must be undone in a way that will minimize disruption. The next step is to hold individuals involved in the issue accountable, said Gatchalian.
“The ultimate action is to hold them to account administratively and criminally through our court system. Ibig sabihin [This means] cases should be filed whether it’s in the Ombudsman or in the other courts…itong mga fact-finding na ginawa namin [the fact-finding we have done] will enable us to paint the picture,” he said.
DOE Asec. Gerardo Erguiza Jr. separately addressed criticisms that PNOC-EC — which holds Malampaya’s remaining 10% stake —supposedly not matching Udenna’s offer to both petroleum giants on the sale of their shares.
Just last month, three private individuals lodged a graft complaint against DOE Secretary Alfonso Cusi along with Uy and dozen of others for the alleged questionable sale of shares to Udenna and for supposedly allowing the firm “unwarranted benefits” and causing the government “undue injury.”
Udenna has maintained the legality of its acquisition of Malampaya shares.
“Again, we must remember that PNOC-EC is not just the country’s energy investment arm. Their mandate is to help the government achieve energy security, and foster the development of and sustain a conducive industry environment to help attract more investors into doing business in the Philippines,” he said.
Erguiza further explained that PNOC-EC went further and dug deeper into its mandate apart from taking into account economic and risk factors at play.
“For PNOC-EC to pounce on Chevron’s shares actually runs counter to their mandate. If acquiring the Chevron shares was so financially lucrative, then why didn’t Shell grab at them at the first opportunity?” said the DOE official.
