Binalaan ni House Ways and Means Committee Chair Joey Salceda ang pamunuan ng Maharlika Investment Fund na mag-ingat sa pagpasok sa kasunduan sa National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
Punto ni Salceda, kung papasok ang MIF sa deal nang hindi pa naire-refund ng NGCP ang nasa ₱200-billion na disallowed espenses na tinukoy ng Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) ay madedehado dito ang taumbayan.
Sinabi pa ng Albay solon, magiging co-liable din ang MIF sa naturang disallowed expenses.
“Maharlika investing into the NGCP before it completes that refund would make the Fund co-liable to the public for the raw deal we got out of these disallowed expenses. Most of those expenses were on advertising and other expenses that were not core to the NGCP’s business, especially since it is already a monopoly that does not need to advertise itself,” ani Salceda.
Babala pa ng mambabatas, kapag namuhunan ang MIF sa NGCP ay magiging overpriced na ang shares nito.
“It would also perpetrate the already very sweet deal obtained by the NGCP in terms of its franchise tax rate, which is lower than the standard 5%, and the concession fee, which was pegged at a very low PHP to USD conversion rate of about ₱43 to the dollar,” dagdag paliwanag pa niya.
Paalala pa ng House Tax chief, kung itutuloy ito ng MIF ay magiging paglabag ito sa risk management principles ng Maharlika sa ilalim ng RA 11954.
Maaari din aniya itong maka-apekto sa desisyon ng pamahalaan tungkol sa refund.
“Investing in the NGCP without taking into account the risk of equity reduction due to the probably refund would be a clear violation of Maharlika’s risk management principles under RA 11954. State exposure to the NGCP’s shareholder value before the ERC rules on the disallowances might also influence the government’s overall predisposition on the refund, since it would definitely impact the MIF’s position. In other words, until the ERC sorts this out, it’s a raw deal,” wika pa ni Salceda. | ulat ni Kathleen Jean Forbes
