Robredo warns against ‘questionable’ Udenna Corp. Malampaya deal

Filipinos should be vigilant over the awarding of the Malampaya natural gas-to-power deal to Udenna Corporation, a group led by Davao businessman Dennis Uy, Vice President Leni Robredo said Saturday.

According to Robredo, the government should be "more aggressive" to protect the natural gas field.

"Ngayon gini-give-up nila dapat sana gobyerno bumili. Sinasabi ng gobyerno 'di namin binili kasi wala kaming pera. Pero kung tinignan natin ang company ni Dennis Uy, na siya binili, wala rin siyang pera pero inutang niya," Robredo said over a radio interview.

(The government should have bought it. The government is saying it cannot enter into the Malampaya deal because it does not have enough money. But if we look at Dennis Uy's company, they bought it but Dennis Uy also has no money so he took out loans.)

Moreover, Robredo said just like Uy, the government can get loans to fund the Malampaya deal.

"Pero sulit na sulit 'yung pag-utang niya (Uy), kasi ang dami niyang income araw-araw. So para sakin, bakit hindi 'yun ginawa ng gobyerno, naka-utang nga ang private, lalo na kapag ang gobyerno," she added.

(But Uy's loan was worth it because he earns income every day. For me, why didn't the government do that? if private firms can do it, the government can do it as well.)

She further warned that the electricity supply in the Philippines will be at stake if the Malampaya takeover will not be looked into.

"So para sakin, questionable ang pag-award nito at dapat ito i-pursue ng Filipino na bakit ganito ang nangyari kasi grabe yung at stake sa atin," Robredo said.

(This is questionable and it should be pursued because our power supply is at stake.)

"Kapag nag-import tayo lalong mamahal, ngayon ang mahal ng kuryente. Tapos gusto ba natin na dadating ang time papa-erode ang supply natin, gusto ba natin na darating yung time na babalik tayo sa panahon na ang daming brownout," Robredo also pointed out, adding that high power rates would drive investors away from the country.

(If we import, it will be more expensive than the already costly electricity rates. Will we wait for our supply to erode? Will we wait for the time that we will experience brownouts?)

Robredo's reaction stemmed from Uy’s Malampaya Philippines Pte Ltd. completing the buyout of Chevron Philippines' stake in the offshore gas field in Palawan. Following this, Uy's company also acquired the entire stake of Dutch petroleum giant Shell Petroleum N.V. in May.

Uy was one of the contributors to President Rodrigo Duterte's 2016 campaign.

Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, president of ruling party PDP-Laban headed by President Duterte, dismissed claims that Uy's Malampaya consortium agreement was a midnight deal.

Cusi also claimed that the Uy deal was beyond the Department of Energy's "purview."

Cusi and Uy are facing graft complaints over supposed anomalies in the sale of Chevron's stake in the Malampaya project.

Reacting to criticisms, Udenna Corp. had denied claims that the government would be financially disadvantaged after it acquired a controlling stake in Malampaya.

Meanwhile, it was projected that the Malampaya field, which has been supplying fuel to the Luzon electricity grid, would run dry by 2024. — DVM, GMA News