FOUR POWER producers have committed to pay their financial obligations to the government amounting to more than PHP23 billion, a lawmaker said on Thursday.
Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Mike Defensor said the four power firms made the commitment during a joint House hearing regarding the PHP95.4 billion worth of overdue receivables from electric cooperatives and companies for years.
Defensor, who chairs the House committee on public accounts, said the private firms that committed to pay the financial obligations were Meralco, PHP15 billion; Northern Renewables Generation Corp., PHP4.6 billion; FDC (Filinvest Development Corp.) Misamis Power Corp., PHP2.6 billion; and FDC Utilities, Inc., PHP1.2 billion.
“We got responsible officials of the four corporations to promise to pay their debt, which they have acknowledged. We will hold them to their commitment,” Defensor said.
According to state-owned Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corp., these companies have a combined accumulated debt amounting to PHP23.4 billion for electricity and power plants bought from the government, or for managing generation assets.
PSALM is the agency tasked by Congress under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 to sell the assets of the defunct National Power Corp.
Defensor said it would no longer have to approve bills imposing new taxes to raise PHP23.4 billion.
Defensor earlier warned that with the set expiration of PSALM’s corporate life by 2026, these uncollected receivables of the national government could be passed on to the consumers.
“Dapat bayaran na ang mga ito. Hindi naman gobyerno ang magbabayad nito sa huli, taumbayan din ang magbabayad (These overdue accounts should be paid by the power firms. In the end, the public would carry the burden of paying these, not the government),” Defensor said. (By Filane Mikee Cervantes)
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