MANILA, Philippines—Team Energy, owner and operator of the 735-megawatt Pagbilao coal power plant, is leaving it to the national government to resolve the real-property tax case, in which officials of the Quezon provincial government have sought to collect some P6 billion from the Japanese-backed firm.
“We understand that the inter-agency committee formed by the national government is doing the best it can to resolve this matter at the soonest possible time,” said Greggy H. Romualdez, senior manager for external affairs at Team Energy.
“It is our hope that they find a solution that is acceptable to both the Quezon provincial and Pagbilao municipal governments before the scheduled auction date,” Romualdez said.
While Team Energy takes on a wait-and-see stance, the Quezon provincial government seemed bent on pursuing the planned bidding of the coal facility over the alleged nonpayment of real property taxes by the company backed by Japan’s Marubeni and Tokyo Electric Power Co.
Last week, Quezon Governor David Suarez was reported to have issued an ultimatum to Team Energy to pay the P6.1 billion in taxes or face auction of pieces of its property. He was also reported to have said that the bidding on March 9 would proceed unless the plant operator pays up.
This will be the third attempt this year by the Pagbilao municipal government to auction off the Pagbilao coal power plant.
The Office of the Municipal Treasurer of Pagbilao scheduled an auction last January 26 but was averted after President Aquino and Suarez agreed to come up with a compromise in settling P6 billion in real-estate tax liabilities owed by those running the power facility there.
Malacañang earlier said that in lieu of getting P6 billion worth of taxes owed by Team Energy to the province of Quezon, the local government (of Pagbilao) would instead get P6 billion worth of government projects on the condition that the tax liabilities would be extinguished.
Another auction was scheduled on February 9, but this, too, was also postponed because the national and local governments were still resolving the issue.
Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras earlier said that discussions between the national and local governments were still ongoing, and as such, the auction on March 9 will not take place.
Under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract with the government, state-run National Power Corp. (Napocor) should have assumed all obligations to pay the real-property taxes on the Pagbilao facility. Napocor later claimed that it was exempt from paying such taxes, but the Supreme Court has already ruled against its claims.
Industry players noted that whatever decision or compromise that may be arrived upon by the national and provincial government will impact not only the Pagbilao contract, but the rest of the companies that built power plants under a BOT scheme with the government.
“We understand that the inter-agency committee formed by the national government is doing the best it can to resolve this matter at the soonest possible time,” said Greggy H. Romualdez, senior manager for external affairs at Team Energy.
“It is our hope that they find a solution that is acceptable to both the Quezon provincial and Pagbilao municipal governments before the scheduled auction date,” Romualdez said.
While Team Energy takes on a wait-and-see stance, the Quezon provincial government seemed bent on pursuing the planned bidding of the coal facility over the alleged nonpayment of real property taxes by the company backed by Japan’s Marubeni and Tokyo Electric Power Co.
Last week, Quezon Governor David Suarez was reported to have issued an ultimatum to Team Energy to pay the P6.1 billion in taxes or face auction of pieces of its property. He was also reported to have said that the bidding on March 9 would proceed unless the plant operator pays up.
This will be the third attempt this year by the Pagbilao municipal government to auction off the Pagbilao coal power plant.
The Office of the Municipal Treasurer of Pagbilao scheduled an auction last January 26 but was averted after President Aquino and Suarez agreed to come up with a compromise in settling P6 billion in real-estate tax liabilities owed by those running the power facility there.
Malacañang earlier said that in lieu of getting P6 billion worth of taxes owed by Team Energy to the province of Quezon, the local government (of Pagbilao) would instead get P6 billion worth of government projects on the condition that the tax liabilities would be extinguished.
Another auction was scheduled on February 9, but this, too, was also postponed because the national and local governments were still resolving the issue.
Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras earlier said that discussions between the national and local governments were still ongoing, and as such, the auction on March 9 will not take place.
Under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract with the government, state-run National Power Corp. (Napocor) should have assumed all obligations to pay the real-property taxes on the Pagbilao facility. Napocor later claimed that it was exempt from paying such taxes, but the Supreme Court has already ruled against its claims.
Industry players noted that whatever decision or compromise that may be arrived upon by the national and provincial government will impact not only the Pagbilao contract, but the rest of the companies that built power plants under a BOT scheme with the government.
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