IN the light of recent ruling of the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the Malampaya fund, Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara urged Malacanang to use it to restore power in areas affected by Yolanda.
He said that in utilizing the fund, which now stood at P137 billion, the government should prioritize fixing the damaged transmission lines and restoring the energy system especially in calamity-hit areas.
The former Aurora representative also stressed the need to provide assistance to Central Luzon wherein electricity in several towns and cities were cut off by typhoon Santi early October.
The SC declared unconstitutional the President’s use of the Malampaya fund in projects not related to energy as it violated the principle of “non-delegability” of legislative power since it allowed the use of the funds for other purposes.
The Malampaya fund, which represents the royalties collected from the natural gas project off Palawan, was primarily intended to finance energy resource development and exploration programs.
According to the Bureau of Treasury, the total amount deposited by the Department of Energy in the Malampaya fund from 2002 to 2013 amounted to P179 billion while total releases against it during the same period reached P42 billion, leaving a balance of P137 billion, which is available in the National Treasury.
Early this year, the government received $1.1 billion or more than P43 billion in revenue from operations of the Malampaya project in 2012 alone.
He added that the lack of power supply has been hampering the region’s development, and should be addressed and immediately resolved.
The post Use Malampaya funds to restore power lines in Yolanda-hit areas appeared first on Remate.
.. Continue: Remate.ph (source)
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