Senate probe of Malampaya fund misuse backed

The Malampaya topsides-heaviest and largest integrated platform topsides deck ever built in the Asia Pacific region installed using the “float-over” technique eighty kilometers offshore Northwest Palawan. EDWIN BACASMAS

A senator supports the call of the Commission on Audit (COA) for an investigation of the alleged anomalous use of the P36.288 billion in royalties from the Malampaya natural gas fields between 2004 and 2012.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate committee on energy, on Friday said a probe on the utilization of the Malampaya Fund has long been overdue as any mishandling of the funds would jeopardize the future of the country’s energy sector.

“This investigation has been a long time coming. In fact, I made it a point to flag the discrepancies in the collection and disbursement of the Malampaya Fund during the Senate deliberations on the Department of Energy (DOE) budget last month,” Gatchalian said in a statement.

During the DOE’s budget deliberations early last month, the senator had said the government must address with transparency the uncertainties surrounding the utilization of the P198 billion Malampaya fund, the country’s accumulated share in the revenues from the offshore gas-to-power project.

Gatchalian had also cited the need for a policy and a strategy on how to best utilize the fund, pointing out that it was misused for projects that were not related to energy in past administrations. “The intent of the law was not fulfilled,” he had said.