PNoy approves P5B to secure Palawan oil and gas fields

President Benigno Aquino III has approved the release of P4.9 billion from the Malampaya fund to fortify the defenses of natural gas exploration in northern Palawan, National Treasurer Roberto Tan said Wednesday.

Philippine National Oil Co's oil and gas exploration sites in offshore Palawan. Source: PNOC

The money, to be released this month, will be disbursed to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Tan said. The AFP was tasked to acquire and deploy a support fleet of ships smaller than the Hamilton Class BRP Gregorio del Pilar.

As early as last March, the Philippine military sent an aircraft to the disputed Reed Bank near Palawan following reports that Chinese patrol boats were trying to harass a Filipino oil exploration team there.

Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, chief of the AFP Western Mindanao Command, said the Chinese were claiming the exploration team from the Department of Energy was in Chinese territory.

“Pero alam naman natin na pasok na pasok sa atin ‘yun so nagpadala kami ng eroplano," Saban then said, referring the hotly contested oil-rich area west of Palawan.

BRP Gregorio del Pilar, the Philippine Navy
’s largest and newly acquired ship, is a symbol of the Philippines’ “seriousness" in fortifying the protectors of the country’s maritime resources.

The Gregorio del Pilar, however, is less than half the size of China’s first aircraft carrier that is expected to go on sea trials by the end of September. The Philippines’ largest ship is 367 feet long, compared to China’s Shi Lang that measures 1,000 feet.
"Commingled" special account

The National Treasurer also disclosed Wednesday at the joint congressional oversight committee hearing on the comprehensive tax reform package that the Malampaya fund, with a remaining balance of P99.45 billion, exists as a "commingled" special account in the government’s general fund.

He said the Malampaya collections from 2002 to August 2011 totaled P121.97 billion, of which P21.645 billion was disbursed partly to pay for the Hamilton class ship which the Philippines bought from the United States.

During the hearing, Senator Ralph Recto made an issue out of the "commingled" status of the Malampaya fund and said that the money was missing. Recto argued that the fund cannot be used for any purpose other than those for which it was created.

In a July 5 statement, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad explained the Malampaya fund was “…not actual cash but an accounting of revenue inflows and expenditure items charged against the Fund since revenues were remitted to the government from the Malampaya Natural Gas Project since it started in 2002."

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