SMC to DOF, PSALM: Let courts decide on Ilijan issue

Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) on Monday hit back at the Department of Finance (DOF) and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) to let the courts decide on the issues surrounding its Ilijan power plant in Batangas.

"Let us not undermine the integrity of the court and return to basics," SMC president and COO Ramon Ang said in an emailed statement.

"We choose to be on the side of law instead of presenting a good yet misleading story. Let us stick to the facts of the case and let the court decide," he elaborated.

His statement came after the DOF, under the leadership of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, ordered PSALM to pursue legal remedies to compel independent power producer administrators (IPPAs) with delinquent accounts.

The DOF said SMC's South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC), which administers the capacity of the Ilijan gas-fired power plant in Batangas City, has the highest unpaid account of P23.94 billion as of December 31, 2019.

"SPPC has also not received any billing statement from PSALM claiming the alleged unpaid amount of P23.94 billion," said SPPC.

"Interestingly, PSALM has released the figure to the media instead of informing affected party SPPC or SMC. Based on PSALM’s last billing statement to SPPC, it is claiming just P15.63 billion," it added.

SMC last week already questioned supposed unpaid debts, as the company said it already made P314.6 billion in payments, consisting of P73.9 billion in fixed monthly payments and P240.7 billion in generation charges.

SPPC assumed administration of the Ilijan Power Plant, which sits on a 60-acre site at Arenas Point, Barangay Ilijan in Batangas since June 2010.

Two years later, in 2012, SPPC and PSALM began discussions to come up with a proper computation for generation payments, as both parties had differences in their respective interpretations.

PSALM computed generation payments based on prevailing Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) prices from November to December 2013, when there was a temporary spike.

In 2015, PSALM unilaterally terminated SPPC's Administrator Contract, which then PSALM chairman and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said was not authorized by the PSALM Board.

"We are one with the DoF and PSALM in wanting to have closure to the case. However, premature closure by distorting the facts through the court of public opinion is only compromising the integrity of our justice system," Ang said. —LDF, GMA News