Legislator urges gov’t to use Malampaya funds to buy back Petron

MANILA, Philippines—Bayan Muna Party-list Representative Neri Javier Colmenares on Tuesday urged the government to use the P151-billion Malampaya funds to buy back Petron in order to address the latest surge in oil prices.

“Buying back Petron is gravely important because it will allow the government to sell petroleum at the proper and correct price, thereby making it difficult for the other petroleum players like Chevron or Shell to sell petroleum at an overprice,” Colmenares said.

A recent report of the Commission on Audit and the Department of Energy showed the total Malampaya funds collected from 2002 to June 30, 2011, and placed in a special account called Fund 151 amounted to P115.17 billion.

Since the fund was kept from public scrutiny and was allegedly used as a presidential pork barrel by the previous administration, a total of P23.6 billion of the fund has been spent in projects from 2002 to June 2010, he said.

Colmenares also said that based on the official records of the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing (BESF) submitted by President Aquino this year, the total Malampaya funds by 2012 would be P151.12 billion.

And based on the same 2012 BESF, he said the total non-tax revenues of the Department of Energy alone (collections from Malampaya, Matinloc-Nido and other income sources) already amounted to P169.838 billion.

Colmenares said the President has unbridled discretion over the fund that he could easily use it to control a major industry that would give a big relief to consumers.

Buying back Petron, he stressed, would be better for the Filipinos instead of spending the money for projects that never made an impact on their lives.