Published September 20, 2017, 10:01
PM By Myrna
M. Velasco
State-run Philippine National Oil
Company (PNOC) has formally asked leading oil firm Petron Corporation to stamp
out a contractual provision in their property lease that had been deemed
“onerous, burdensome and disadvantageous” to the government.
PNOC President Reuben S. Lista said
he already raised this in several letters to Petron President and Chief
Executive Officer Ramon S. Ang, but the state-run firm has yet to receive
“definitive response” from the oil company.
In the latest correspondence dated
August 31 this year, Lista reiterated the government run firm’s request “to
nullify certain provisions of the existing lease agreements that pose a
stumbling block before we can proceed to negotiate the renewal.”
That particular provision in the
lease contract is on Section 2, which stipulates that “in case the parties fail
to come to an agreement, the same terms and conditions shall apply except the
initial rental rate for the renewal period shall be the rental rate at the time
of expiration plus two percent (2%) thereof and subsequent rental rate shall be
escalating by two percent (2%) per annum.”
Additionally, under Section 3, it
was stated that “should the lessee (in this case Petron) decide to reduce the
area of the leased premises due to business or operational reasons, the rentals
shall be reduced correspondingly on a per square meter/per location basis.”
It was further noted “the reduction of
rental for each affected property shall be effective on the succeeding month
following the receipt by lessor of a written notice regarding the reduction of
the leased premises.”
Lista said he already secured an
opinion from the Office of the Solicitor General, wherein he was apprised that
maintaining the “low price lease” in the contract renewal with Petron shall be
placing the government at a losing end.
“We understand that the contract
that is set to expire on August 31, 2018 was negotiated during the time that
PNOC still owned half of Petron, thus, the very reason for a very low lease
price. With regards to this contract, we believe that in the renewal of the
lease agreement, PNOC should renegotiate for a higher price,” the
correspondence from the solicitor general’s office averred.
Petron’s lease of the PNOC
properties for its 24 bulk plants and 67 service stations will expire next
year, and the state-run firm is now asking the oil firm to already affirm if it
is still interested to renew. Lista, nevertheless, sounded off “I am worried
that they may not be interested anymore to renew the contract because they have
not answered my letters.”
Given the current deadlock on the
matter, he is asking Petron on its plan of clearing up the PNOC sites should it
eventually decide to get out from such properties.
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