DoE eyes Batangas lot as energy city
Credit to Author: Jordeene B. Lagare| Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2020 16:12:12 +0000
THE Department of Energy (DoE) is looking at converting a 120-hectare land in San Pascual, Batangas, the subject of an “onerous” land deal between Chevron Philippines Inc. and the subsidiary of the National Development Co. (NDC), into an energy city, its top official said.
In an interview, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said “what we want to do there with that place is to be the, to be [an] energy city also.”
“We wanted that to become energy area because we wanted to use that for LNG [liquefied petroleum gas] terminal,” he told reporters.
Cusi, however, said the Department of Finance (DoF) holds the discretion as to how the latter wants to do with the property.
“I have to work with [the] DoF because sila naman ang may (it is the agency responsible for the property). There is a process. Sa akin lang yung panagip pero to realize that, maraming proseso (This is just my aspiration but to realize that goal will entails a lot of processes),” he said.
“Kung nangyari iyon, kung gagawin, aayusin… gagawa kami ng masterplan. Hindi naman pupuwedeng sabihin lang namin na bid na kayo (Should that materialize, we need to come up with a masterplan. We cannot just decide and open that land for bidding),” he added.
Last month, the DoF said it uncovered an “onerous” land deal between Chevron and NDC unit Batangas Land Co. Inc. (BLCI), which allowed Chevron to pay monthly rental fee of 74 centavos per square meter (sqm) on a 120-hectare or 1.2-million sqm property.
Based on the NDC appraisal reports, the current fair market rental value in that area should be about P17.90 per sqm per month, it added.
The oil company, according to the Finance department, had been paying a minuscule rental fee to the government for the industrial park in the Batangas town that it uses as an oil import terminal.
It said at P10.66 million per year since 2010, the rent Chevron had been paying was only around 4 percent of the estimated current fair rental rate of P257.76 million per year.
The DoF then announced that BLCI would be abolished in 2021 as the NDC board approved last December shortening BLCI’s corporate life upon the recommendation of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd.
Chevron had argued “the lease contract with BLCI on the Batangas property was entered into in compliance with all Philippine laws and regulations, and has been beneficial to both the government and CPI.”