THE OVERDUE receivables of Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) from power companies, electric cooperatives, as well as universal charges, stand at a whopping PHP95.421 billion, a top official said on Wednesday.
PSALM president and chief executive officer Irene Joy Besido-Garcia made the statement during a joint hearing by the House Committees on Public Accounts and Good Government regarding the state-run company’s uncollected receivables.
Citing PSALM records as of December 31 last year, Garcia said the total amount of private power firms owed the government entity had been estimated at PHP33.52 billion, the bulk of which is from the South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC) amounting to PHP23.94 billion.
The SPPC, a subsidiary of SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., is under the independent power producer administrator (IPPA) agreement with PSALM for the 1,200-megawatt (MW) natural gas-fired power plant in Ilijan, Batangas.
PSALM also reported overdue accounts for generation payments under the IPPA agreement from Northern Renewables Generation Corporation at PHP4.579 billion, FDC Misamis Power Corp. at PHP2.630 billion, FDC Utilities Inc. at PHP1.167 billion, and Good Friends Hydro Resources Corp. at PHP1.214 billion.
Garcia, meanwhile, noted that the total power and universal charges overdue receivables from electric cooperatives, distribution utilities, and industry clients had been recorded at PHP35.446 billion.
Other PSALM receivables that are under litigation, for reconciliation, or for reconciliation are registered at PHP26.335 billion.
Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Mike Defensor, chair of the House Committee on Public Accounts, said his panel would invite representatives from the private corporations in the next hearing to hold them accountable for the overdue payments.
“Marami ang mga hindi nagbabayad. Ipapatawag sila sa susunod na hearing. Dito sa pagkolekta palang, malaki na ang kikitain ng gobyerno (Most of them have not paid yet. They will be called for the next hearing. Just from the collection (of these overdue receivables), the government could earn a lot),” Defensor said in a press conference after the hearing.
Defensor 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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