No takers yet on proposed Pulangi V hydro project

By Walter I. Balane | Friday| January 21, 2011 

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/20 Jan) – There are no investors yet interested on the proposed Pulangi V hydroelectric power plant in southern Bukidnon and North Cotabato, according to Rene Cortizano, general manager of the First Bukidnon Electric Cooperative (Fibeco), the group proposing the project.

This was revealed by Cortizano to the Bukidnon provincial board Wednesday afternoon when asked by board member Alfeo Baguio during interpolation for Fibeco’s proposed P6.5-million loan with the National Electrification Administration (NEA).

Baguio questioned Fibeco’s role in the multibillion-peso project when it cannot even afford to replace the sub-transmission equipment for which they intend to use the NEA loan.

Cortizano said they are only taking charge of the social acceptability component before they will be able to talk to takers of the proposed project.

“We are not going to be part of the construction of the project,” he told the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

He said at the session that Greenergy, the conduit firm in their social acceptability campaign, is not an investor but a consultant.

Cortizano told MindaNews they are talking to no investors yet since they need to secure social acceptability first.

He added that Fibeco took initiative of the proposed Pulangi V during the last power crisis.

“When we heard that Mindanao is expected to be short of 600 megawatts, we thought of the project since it will help our power consumers,” he said.

Vice Gov. Jose Ma. R. Zubiri Jr. fumed when Cortizano admitted that they hired Greenergy for P260,000 a month to help them obtain social acceptability in the affected areas.

Zubiri said if they have budget for about P3.9 million to hire consultants, which he considered “unnecessary” to Fibeco’s main business, then they really need not apply for a loan that adds to the cost that consumers have to shoulder.

Zubiri proposed to suspend the provincial board’s approval of a certification that Fibeco consulted them about the loan until they can furnish their financial report for fiscal year 2010.

The vice governor urged Fibeco and the Bukidnon Second Electric Cooperative to focus on their main business instead.