Ex-Usec Mañalac,
group appeal to PBBM: Take full control of Malampaya
Press Release
February 13, 2023
MANILA – Former DOE
Undersecretary Eduardo Mañalac and the National Movement for the
West Philippine Sea (NYMWPS) on Monday, February 13, appealed to
President Bongbong Marcos to terminate the Service Contract 38 or
the Malampaya project when it expires in 2024.
The Malampaya project is
currently operated by Prime Infrastructure Capital owned by Enrique
Razon Jr. and Udenna, owned by Dennis Uy.
Mañalac and NYMWPS
instead, asked Marcos Jr. to order the Philippine National Oil
Company (PNOC) to operate the Deepwater Gas-to-Power Project.
The PNOC was created in
1973 by Former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. for the purpose of
taking over operations after the contract ends.
In a news release by
NYMWPS following an online conference last February 9, Mañalac said
this process will deliberately place direct control of Malampaya
operations in the hands of the government.
He added that this will
also serve to maximize earnings for the Filipino people, who are at
this point, losing billions of pesos to what they believe as
unqualified private companies.
Udenna and Prime Infra
currently earn P50M each, or a combined P100M daily from Malampaya
gas, the same amount the Philippines government may earn if it takes
full control of the operations. Presidential Decree No. 87 or the
Oil Exploration Act of 1972 mandates that said activities should
ensure maximum benefits to the people.
PD 87 also requires that
only companies that possess technical expertise and financial
capability shall be granted service contracts. Mañalac and the
NYMWPS had earlier questioned the processes by which Prime Infra and
Udenna acquired the Malampaya interests from Shell and Chevron
because the two service contractors allegedly do not have the
required technical capability to operate the gas field.
Prime Infra and Udenna
each controls 45% stake or a total of 90% of the shares in the gas
field. PNOC holds the remaining 10%. Malampaya supplies 20% of the
power requirements of Luzon, the biggest of three major islands in
the Philippines.