Casiño questions Napocor Mindanao losses

NAPOCOR WANTS TO BORROW Napocor would need P15 billion in 2012 to fund the operations of its small power utilities group, but it is requesting the Joint Congressional Power Commission to allow it to raise funds through borrowings, among others.

MANILA, Philippines — Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casiño on Thursday slammed the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation’s (PSALM) statement that they incurred a P15 billion loss from the operations of the National Power Corporation’s (Napocor) Mindanao generation group.

In a statement, he berated PSALM for its claim, asking “where did these losses come from when the Napocor is said to be making big money in Mindanao?”

Citing figures from Napocor’s Mindanao operations, Casino said that it had a total profit of P73.2 billion from 2003-2011. He said that the said amount was presented in the recent Mindanao Power Summit.

The balance would still be positive, he explained, even if the income from the Agus-Pulangui operations were used to cover the losses of Napocor’s IPP plants. He cited data from Napocor which indicated “a P1.9 billion net income in 2011, despite the spike in diesel prices.”

“I really can’t see how Napocor lost P15 billion, unless the figures have been manipulated to show a loss, and this supposed loss is within the time frame of 2001-2011,” the lawmaker said.

“In fact, due to the Operations and Management Agreement between PSALM and Napocor, the latter’s annual income from Mindanao, averaging P8.1 billion since 2003, is being diluted and used to cover for losses due to the onerous contracts with the IPPs.”

Casiño said that he plans to file a resolution next week to probe PSALM’s claim of losses, explaining that he suspects that the figures were manipulated to justify the sale of the hydropower plants.