Palace orders probe of gov’t oil company

MALACAÑANG has ordered its Governance Commission for Government-owned and -controlled corporations, or GCG, to look into alleged irregularities in the selection of international oil trading partners by the state-run Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC).

The Palace directive was based on a report by PNOC-EC Chair Gemiliano Lopez Jr. to President Aquino on alleged violations of the Corporation Code and GCG rules of procedure by   officials of the PNOC’s oil, gas and coal subsidiary.

Initial GCG findings showed, among other things, that there was “no competitive bidding in the [PNOC-EC] selection of Pionaire Finance Ltd. as its international [trading] partner.”

The Inquirer tried but failed to reach PNOC-EC president and CEO Pedro Aquino Jr. for comment on the issue.

In a Dec. 16 memo to the PNOC-EC, the GCG noted that “the memorandum of understanding (between the Philippine company and Pionaire Finance) did not undergo review by the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC).”

In a letter to PNOC-EC, a copy of which was obtained by the Inquirer, GCG Chair Cesar Villanueva and Commissioners Ma. Angela Ignacio and Rainier Butalid asked the Taguig City-based firm to “first engage the OGCC to review the legal circumstances surrounding the proposed international trading” with Pionaire Finance, said to be based in the British Virgin Islands.

“Pursuant to the memorandum (from Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr.), all substantial matters for deliberation by the PNOC-EC board of directors, including the disputed items (raised by Lopez), shall be held in abeyance pending the investigation by the Governance Commission,” said the GCG.

Lopez had reported to the GCG that “there was a conspiracy (by some PNOC-EC directors) to alter the originally approved agenda (during their Sept. 16, 2015, board meeting) by inserting two new items in purported violation of the Corporation Code and GCG rules of procedure.”

Aside from the international trading deal, another item involved a contract for the operation of the Camago-Malampaya Oil Leg beneath the massive Malampaya gas field without the benefit of a staff review and due deliberation, Lopez said. Jerry E. Esplanada