MANILA, Philippines?The revenues from the sale of the assets of National Power Corp. (Napocor) are intact and are not missing, contrary to claims made by a lawmaker, Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) said Wednesday.

PSALM clarified that proceeds from asset privatization have reached $10.653 billion to date. Only $4.65 billion of this amount has been collected as of July 31 this year, with the rest of the amount due in deferred payments, it said in a statement.

Of the $4.65 billion that was collected, PSALM said it used $4.46 billion to pay off Napocor?s financial obligations.

?These proceeds have been used and continue to be used by PSALM to service the financial obligations of Napocor as stipulated in Republic Act No. 9136, the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA),? PSALM explained.

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone on Tuesday called for a congressional inquiry into the allegedly missing funds of PSALM amounting to $12.1 billion.

Evardone filed House Resolution 106 directing the committee on energy to conduct an inquiry into the ?serious allegations of exorbitant and irregular disbursements at the PSALM.?

PSALM was created to handle the privatization of Napocor, the state-owned generator, and dispose of its assets, resources and liabilities.

PSALM said that since 2004?when its privatization program had started?total Napocor obligations had already gone down to $16.36 billion from a high of $19.49 billion.

But while the Napocor debt stood at $16.5 billion before the enactment of the EPIRA in 2001, the figure ballooned to $22.9 billion in 2003 because of losses from its independent power producer (IPP) contracts, which amounted to $1.75 billion.

These contracts include those with San Roque, Kalayaan Units 3 and 4, Mindanao Coal Plant, Bakun and Ilijan. These IPPs were commissioned during the 1990s power crisis to cover the shortfall in generation supply.

Presidential directive

The issuance of a presidential directive in 2002 to peg the purchase power cost adjustment at only 40 centavos per kilowatt hour (kWh)?which was implemented until 2004?contributed to the decline of Napocor?s fiscal standing, PSALM said.

This was the reason why PSALM had to resort to borrowings to cover the widening annual deficit of Napocor amounting to $3.2 billion.

Aggravating Napocor?s fiscal woes was the implementation of the 30-centavo-per-kWh mandated rate reduction for residential customers nationwide. This translated to a P2.5-billion reduction in Napocor?s yearly revenues.

PSALM also pointed out that there was no rate adjustment or increase in power tariffs until 2004. The sharp depreciation of the peso from P44.19 in 2000 to P54.20 in 2003 also contributed to the decline in Napocor?s fiscal position.

?While it is true that the government absorbed P200 billion in debts in 2004, Napocor still ended up losing an estimated $350 million in terms of foreign exchange from the debt absorption. This is because the conversion rate used in the transaction had already fallen to P56 to a dollar in 2004, from P51 to a dollar in 2001,? the agency explained.

PSALM also clarified that because of the time variance between the cash inflows from the privatization proceeds and the debt obligations, it had to resort to borrowings to refinance maturing obligations.