SC asked to reverse ruling upholding sale of Angat power plant to Korean firm

 PHOTO FROM BULACAN.GOV.PH

MANILA, Philippines—Various groups are seeking a reversal of a Supreme Court upholding as valid and legal the sale of the 246-megawatt Angat hydroelectric power plant in Bulacan to Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-Water), a leading water and power company in South Korea.

In a statement, the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) said its members, along with representatives from other groups, namely Akbayan, Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) and Ideals Inc., have already filed a motion for partial reconsideration in the Supreme Court asking it reverse its ruling, which will effectively allow a foreign company to own, operate and manage the Angat power plant.

The petitioners claimed that the court’s October 9 ruling ran counter to the nationality provisions of Section 2, Article XII of the Philippine Constitution, which prohibit foreigners and foreign-owned companies from exploring, developing, utilizing end exploiting the state’s natural resources, including water.

The groups are likewise questioning the “use of the build-operate-transfer (BOT) law to legalize and validate the award to K-Water because the law never transfers ownership of BOT projects from the Philippine Government to any contracted entity. This is apart from the fact that the K-Water’s bid was made under Epira (Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001) and not under the BOT law.”

K-Water submitted in April 2010 the highest bid of $440.8 million for the Angat power facility during an auction held by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. The Korean company bested some of the biggest power players in the country like First Gen Northern Energy Corp., San Miguel Corp., SN Aboitiz Power-Pangasinan Inc., Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp., and DMCI Power Corp.

The following month, however, the Supreme Court issued a “status quo ante” order effectively blocking the planned privatization of Angat Dam’s hydroelectric power plant. It also later denied the plea of PSALM to lift the restriction.

Cause-oriented groups then pleaded with the Supreme Court to stop the sale, citing violations of the Constitution, the law and due process. They said the sale of the power plant to a foreign company might put at risk Metro Manila’s main source of drinking water.

Angat Dam, located in Bulacan province, is considered a highly critical multipurpose reservoir for hydropower, water supply, irrigation and flood control. It supplies about 97 percent of the domestic water supply of at least 12 million people in Metro Manila and irrigates 31,000 hectares of farmland in the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga.