Press Release
October 28, 2020

Gatchalian flags DOF: Look for addt'l funds for Murang Kuryente Act, spare taxpayers

Senator Win Gatchalian has put to task the Department of Finance (DOF) in providing for sufficient budget and in sparing the taxpayers from being choked by new borrowings to fund next year's obligations of the Murang Kuryente Act.

Gatchalian learned that less than 20 percent or only P8 billion of the P46 billion requested by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation in their 2021 budget was allocated by the DOF for next year's implementation of the Murang Kuryente Act.

As a result, PSALM will have to resort to borrowing for the additional P38.4 billion and taxpayers will bear the brunt of covering the P5.45 billion borrowing cost, the senator was told during the recent budget deliberations of PSALM's 2021 budget.

"That is not the spirit and intention of the law. We have to request the DOF to seriously look into this because the P5.45 billion is a hefty amount. If we will be incurring additional costs then it will still be passed on to the taxpayers because PSALM will need to borrow," the Senate Energy Committee Chairman commented.

"The law intends to save interests and borrowing costs but obviously that is not happening in this case," Gatchalian added.

The Murang Kuryente Act spares consumers from paying the universal charges for stranded contract costs (UC-SCC) and stranded debts (UCSD) in their electricity bills. But each household is still paying P0.0428 per kilowatt hour for UCSD that should be removed, according to the senator.

The stranded contract costs are the excess of the contracted cost of electricity under eligible independent power producer contracts over the actual selling price of the contracted energy output while stranded debts are those unpaid financial obligations of the National Power Corporation which have not been liquidated by the proceeds from the sales and privatization of its assets.

"Consumers will not see it in their electricity bill. But indirectly, it's also the taxpayers who will be paying an additional P5.45 billion through one way or the other. You can always argue that it's one pocket to the other," Gatchalian said.

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Gatchalian hinimok ang DOF na pondohan ang Murang Kuryente Act sa 2021

Inatasan ni Senador Win Gatchalian ang Department of Finance (DOF) na huwag iasa sa pangungutang at sa halip ay maghanap ng pondo para maisakatuparan ang Murang Kuryente Act sa susunod na taon.

Napag-alaman ni Gatchalian na P8 bilyon lamang ang inilaan para dito ng DOF sa P46 bilyon na hiniling na pondo ng Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation para mapondohan ang nasabing batas para sa 2021.

Dahil dito ay mapipilitang mangutang ang PSALM para punan ang kakulangang P38.4 bilyon at kaakibat nito ang karagdagang gastusin na P5.45 bilyon para sa interes at iba't ibang buwis na aakuin ng taxpayers.

Mariing sinabi ng senador na isinabatas ang Murang Kuryente para mabawasan ang mataas na binabayarang kuryente ng mga consumer. Pero mawawalan din ito ng saysay aniya kung mangungutang din ang gobyerno para may maipondo dito at ipapasa din naman pala ito sa taxpayers.

"Hindi ito ang intensyon ng batas. Hinihiling namin sa DOF na pag-aralang mabuti ito sapagkat malaking halaga ang P5.45 bilyon. Kung uutang sila para maglaan ng pondo, siguradong babawiin din naman ito sa taumbayan," ayon sa Senate Energy Committee Chairman.

"Binalangkas ang batas para hindi tayo umasa sa pangungutang at pagbabayad ng interes. Mukhang hindi ganito ang nangyayari," sabi ni Gatchalian.

Layon ng Murang Kuryente Act na tanggalin ang 'universal charges for stranded contract costs' (UC-SCC) at 'stranded debts' (UCSD) na nakapaloob sa bill ng kuryente at kunin ang pondong pambayad sa UC-SCC at UCSD mula sa kita ng gobyerno sa Malampaya natural gas project.

Kahit epektibo na ang batas, hanggang sa ngayon ay nagbabayad pa rin ang consumers ng P0.048 kada kilowatt sa UCSD o kautangan ng National Power Corporation na hindi pa napupunan ng mga naibentang pag-aari nito. Ang UC-SCC naman ay ang gastusin sa pagbili ng kuryente mula sa mga independent power producers.

"May bawas nga sa buwanang bayarin pero sa huli, ang taumbayan pa rin ang aako sa pagbabayad ng P5.45 bilyong interes. Mistulang nilipat mo lang sa ibang bulsa ang pag-ako ng bayarin," ani Gatchalian.

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