Senate resolution seeking raps vs Cusi, others over Malampaya reaches Ombudsman

The Senate resolution recommending charges against Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi and other officials over the approval of the Udenna-Chevron Malampaya Consortium shares deal was submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman.

On Friday morning, Senate Secretariat-Records Management and Mailing Service transmitted the recently-adopted Senate resolution which expresses the sense of the Senate to file appropriate criminal and administrative charges against Cusi and other Department of Energy executives over the Chevron-UC Malampaya transaction to the anti-graft court.

They were accompanied by Senate Energy Committee Chairman Sherwin Gatchalian, who submitted his report, together with the annexes referred to in the adopted Senate resolution.

In an ambush interview, Gatchalian called on the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate the deal immediately.

“Ang aking panawagan imbestigahan agad, tignan agad itong isinubmit ng Senado. Nagkaisa po ang Senado sa pagrekomenda na dapat sampahan ng kaso ng Ombudsman si Secretary Cusi at kanyang mga kasamahan,” he said.

(My call is for the Ombudsman to investigate this immediately. The Senate has agreed to recommend charges against Cusi and his colleagues before the Ombudsman.)

Ready for charges

Cusi said he is prepared to face the charges before the Ombudsman.

“I am prepared to explain and prove that all of the actions of the Department of Energy regarding the sale and transfer of shares of Malampaya are legal, aboveboard and in accordance with the powers and mandate of the Department," he said in a statement.

“I am elated that this matter may now be brought before the proper legal forum where evidence, logic, and reason are used as the basis for determining whether or not an irregularity has been committed,” he added.

The Energy chief lamented that the Malampaya issue has been "politicized" allegedly by people with business interests on the resources

“I find it unfortunate that the Malampaya issue has been politicized by those whose business interests must have been put in jeopardy as I stayed on course and performed my duties as Energy Secretary,” he said.

He added the Senate hearings that transpired were nothing but "innuendos, speculation, and hearsay propagated by certain business interests that dictated the course of the so-called investigation."

Duterte backs Cusi

On Friday night, President Rodrigo Duterte issued a statement supporting Cusi.

"I view with grave concern an apparent effort at the Senate to put in bad light recent developments involving the Malampaya gas field," Duterte said.

"This casts undue, undeserved, and unwarranted aspersion on the part of some of our key government officials. This is grossly unfair to them and to the public," he added.

Duterte said the deal must be respected, stressing that he was convinced "national interest has been protected and the rights of the government remain intact."

Saving Malampaya resources

The Senate Energy Committee chairman emphasized that the filing of charges is only the first step in saving the resources from Malampaya.

“Mas kumplikado ang next step eh. Ito ang step one, papanagutin ang mga opisyal. Step two paano mabawi, step two mas complicated ‘yun,” he explained.

(The next step after this is more complicated. Holding the officials accountable is just step one. Step two is how we will recover the facility. Step two is more complicated.)

Before the adoption of the Senate resolution, Gatchalian delivered a privilege speech calling on the resignation of Cusi and other officials involved in the sale of the Malampaya Consortium shares.

Gatchalian said Cusi and key officials of the DOE are “criminally and administratively liable for graft, gross neglect of duty, and grave misconduct and should immediately resign from their posts... for railroading the approval of the sale of participating interest of Chevron in Malampaya gas field.”

Other officials recommended to be charged were Energy Undersecretary Donato Marcos, officer-in-charge Undersecretary Roberto Uy, Assistant Secretary Leonido Pulido III, Assitant Secretary Gerardo Erguiza Jr., Director Cesar dela Fuente III, Director Arthur Tenazas, Director Araceli Soluta, OIC Assistant Director Guillermo Ansay, DOE Compliance Division chief Thelma Cerdeña, R.J.A Delos Santos, and Demujin Antiporda.

The planned takeover of the Malampaya facility by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy’s Udenna Group is the subject of the graft complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman against Cusi, Uy, and officials of Chevron Philippines and Shell Philippines Exploration B.V.

Malampaya powers more than four and a half million homes and businesses in Mega Manila alone. Six out of every ten light bulbs in Meralco’s franchise area are powered by Malampaya gas. It contributes almost 20% of the entire country’s power generation mix.

The Senate Energy panel’s series of inquiries stemmed from Uy’s Malampaya Philippines Pte. Ltd. buyout in 2020 of the 45% Chevron Philippines’ stake in the offshore gas field in Palawan. It has since been renamed UC MPPL or UC Malampaya.

The Udenna Corporation, a group led by Davao businessman Dennis Uy, recently said there was no transfer of rights or obligations that occurred in the Udenna-Chevron deal on the sale of Malampaya Consortium shares. — DVM, GMA News