Senator Sherwin Gatchalian wants more transparancy in the use of the P198-billion Malampaya Fund as he called on executive officials to address ambiguities surrounding its utilization.
Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, wants a definite interpretation on the use of the special fund before the committee continues deliberations on proposals to tap it for various purposes.
“In past administrations, the Malampaya Fund was misused for projects that were not related to energy. The intent of the law was not fulfilled. Now that there are pending proposals to use the fund, we cannot move forward without clarifying the mechanism. The process must first be cleared before we can actually use the fund,” he said.
Under Presidential Decree 910, royalties from the Malampaya natural gas facility are to be used exclusively for the financing of energy resource development and exploitation programs to be identified by the Department of Energy.
Energy officials say congressional approval is needed to utilize the Malampaya Fund, but the Department of Finance is claiming that proposals to tap the special fund only requires presidential authorization.
In August, the Energy department bared its plan to request President Rodrigo Duterte to endorse to Congress the approval of a measure seeking the use of the Malampaya Fund for several interconnection projects.
Energy Undersecretary William Fuentebella said only P47.74 billion out of a total collection of P241.37 billion from the Malampaya gas facility has been spent, leaving a balance of P193.63 billion.
In the event Congress approves the bill, Fuentebella said the Malampaya fund will be utilized to finance the Visayas-Mindanao Interconnection Project, Bohol-Cebu Interconnection Project and Antique-Mindoro Interconnection Project.