Business World Online
Posted on August 13, 2013 10:31:01 PM
THE GOVERNMENT has allotted the Energy department P4.051 billion, to be spent mostly on the agency’s electric tricyle (e-trike) project, under the proposed national budget for 2014.
Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla, in his presentation before the House Appropriations Committee yesterday, said that 83.01% or P3.363 billion of the expenditures will be for the department’s projects, specifically the e-trike project.
“Of the total budget, the big chunk will go to the e-trike project. This represents the only regular appropriation of the Department of Energy’s budget,” Mr. Petilla said in his presentation at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City.
Under the e-trike project, the Energy department and the Asian Development Bank aim to replace some 100,000 tricycles that run on gasoline by 2017.
“We are in the process of conducting the bidding for the first 3,000 units of e-trikes. The actual bidding will be conducted this month,” Mr. Petilla said.
He added that the e-trike project forms a big part of the government’s allotment for projects because other energy-related projects are financed by the private sector.
For the remaining budget, Mr. Petilla explained that this will go to “automatic appropriations,” broken down as follows: P250.913 million (6.19%) for general and administrative support; P80.324 million (1.98%) for operations support; P328.797 (8.12%) million for actual operations; and P28.160 (0.70%) million for retirement and life insurance premiums.
Mr. Petilla said that budget for actual operations will go to energy sector policy services, promotion of energy sector innovation and energy sector regulatory services.
For his part, Energy Undersecretary Ramon Allan V. Oca said that general and administrative support will go to the operating expenditures of the department -- specifically of its administration -- while support for operations will go to the technical staff working for the operations.
Mr. Petilla said that, next year, the Energy department will continue implementing its existing projects and will scale up its e-trike project.
Meanwhile, the National Power Corp. (Napocor) proposed a P14-billion budget for next year.
“For 2014, our original proposal representing [the] full year is P19 billion. But it was brought down to P14 billion, which is the one up for the approval of the Congress,” Gladys Cruz -- Sta. Rita, Napocor president, said during the same budget hearing.
“The P14 billion’s major component is our maintenance and operations, accounting for P10.7 billion or 76% of the total budget; P2.1 billion for our capital expenditure requirements and the remaining P1.2 billion for personal services,” Ms. Cruz -- Sta. Rita said.
She added, “P12 billion will be funded by our internally generated cash, and P2 billion will come from the subsidy of the government.”
Ms. Cruz -- Sta. Rita explained that the original proposed amount was brought down by about P5 billion because of the reduction imposed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
Mr. Petilla, after the budget hearing, noted that the DBM took out P45 million of Napocor’s budget intended for the maintenance of the Bataan nuclear power plant (BNPP).
“What will happen is that if Napocor really wants the budget for the BNPP back, then they will have to request that from the DBM, and DoE (Department of Energy) will endorse it,” he said.
“The DoE’s stand is basically, while there is no clear cut policy on what to do with the BNPP, it should be maintained. If it is clear that we no longer want BNPP, then that’s the time you actually take out the budget. But its not yet clear if it should be maintained, as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
The proposed 2014 national budget -- which amounts to P2.268 trillion -- was submitted to Congress last month for deliberations by the House Appropriations Committee, which is headed by Davao Representative (Third District) Isidro T. Ungab.
The proposed amount is 13.1% higher than this year’s P2.006 trillion. source
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