Recto wants full accounting of Malampaya money

Sen. Ralph Recto on Wednesday asked the Energy and Budget departments for a full accounting of the money the government supposedly got from the Malampaya deep water gas-to-power project — the largest natural gas development project in country. “The real status of the Malampaya fund — including its whereabouts, the disbursements in its name, and the sharing mechanism between the government and its private sector operator — remains a mystery despite an earlier call for a full disclosure of all its transactions," Recto said. “There is also a need to clarify on who is really liable to pay the taxes assessed against the income of the gas project," he added. Recto, head of the Senate ways and means committee, said the government should justify why the project’s income taxes amounting to over P50 billion were deducted from the government and not from the service contractor. The project is spearheaded by the Energy Department and operated by Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. with joint-venture partners such as Chevron Malampaya LLC and PNOC-Exploration Corp. In a recent Senate hearing on the Energy Department’s budget, it was bared that some P20 billion out of the P90-billion share of the government in the project were disbursed. The Energy and Budget departments have a of lot explaining to do for the disbursement of P20 billion from the Malampaya fund, Recto said. There is likely a need to organize a “search team" for the P70-billion balance whose “whereabouts" have yet to be ascertained, he pointed out. “Has [the money] been used up? Is this deposited in a special account?" “[The] P70 billion is a lot of money and I can imagine how much interest income is earned from such an amount. The people have the right to know where and how these funds are used," Recto added. “It is also within the people’s right to know if the P20-billion disbursements from the Malampaya fund are legal," he said. Documents the Energy Department submitted during a budget hearing at the Senate showed that some P1 billion went to the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Fund and some P2.14 billion to the Philippine National Police. Other disbursements included P5.82 billion to the Agriculture Department, P3.55 billion (Department of Public Works and Highways), P1.39 billion (Finance Department), P198 million (Defense Department), P50 million (Philippine Coast Guard), P745 million (Health Department), P900 million (Agrarian Reform Department), and P400,000 (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration). Some P3.9 billion were also released to the local government of Palawan. “With the national government desperately looking for cash to fund the rehabilitation and reconstruction of destroyed farmlands and government infrastructure in affected areas of the recent super typhoon, inquiry into the status of the public funds such as that of the Malampaya project now becomes imperative," Recto said — JE/VS, GMANews.TV