SMC to spend $1.2B for Esso in Malaysia

FOOD-and-beverage giant San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has programmed to spend $1.2 billion for Esso Malaysia Bhd.’s Port Dickenson oil refinery and to expand and refurbish its retail stations in Malaysia, Eric Recto, SMC director told reporters on Tuesday. Recto said the upgrade of the refinery is estimated to cost around $800 million to $1 billion, while the expansion of the retail stations could cost another $200 million. Recto said SMC would fund the expansion program through internally generated funds and loans and some equity. SMC has already received offers from both Malaysian and international financial institutions. “Malaysian banks will be more adept at providing financing for Malaysian opportunities, Filipino banks will not be as competitive in providing ringgit financing,” he said. Recto said they are currently looking at a number of financing structures. (Paul Anthony A. Isla)

Petron: Peg price of oil for excise tax, VAT

TO protect consumers from the volatility of world oil prices on local pump prices, Petron Corp., one of the country’s refiners, urged the Department of Finance (DOF) to peg the price of imported petroleum products at $50 to $60 a barrel when computing for the excise tax and value-added tax (VAT), instead of computing at the current market price of over $100 per barrel, Ramon Ang, the company’s chairman and chief executive, told reporters on Tuesday. Ang said Petron submitted the proposal to the DOF to look into the taxes imposed on petroleum products. He said a liter of gasoline is imposed a tax of P15 to P16. “Drivers are the ones affected. People think it’s the oil companies that are earning from this. People think the oil companies take advantage of them,” Ang said. He pointed out that Petron’s margin is only P2 per liter compared to the P15 to P16 the government earns from the excise tax and VAT. (Paul Anthony A. Isla)

Graft raps filed against Angara, 6 others

Architect Felino Palafox Jr. on Tuesday filed a graft complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman against Sen. Edgardo Angara and his son Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, his sister Aurora Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo and four other members of the Aurora Pacific Ecozone and Freeport (Apeco) in connection with the development of Apeco two years ago. Palafox said the respondents implemented the project despite warnings that the site was prone to flooding and soil liquefaction.  “With the knowledge of his co-respondents, [Angara] explicitly justified the fast-tracking of the plans to justify the approval of the budget, which was then being deliberated before the Senate. When the engineering surveys conducted by the complainant turned out that some portions of the land covered by the project were prone to flooding and liquefaction, complainant recommended that the design should consider a 100-year historical pattern of flooding,” said Palafox in his five-page complaint. He said the respondents ignored his warnings and recommendations. (Zaff Solmerin)

Legislator seeks probe of coal-power plants

A LEGISLATOR sought a congressional inquiry into numerous planned and ongoing construction of privately owned and operated coal-fired power plants in the country, which he said is being allowed by the Aquino administration as part of its long-term national energy plan and policy on public-private partnership (PPP) program. In House Resolution 1612, Party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis urged Liberal Party Rep. Henedina Abad of Batanes, chairman of the House Energy Committee, to look into the matter as soon as possible, citing “mounting public resistance” to coal-fired power plants. He said the projects will put in great peril the environment as well as health and livelihood of affected communities. “There is a need to study if the social risks of these planned coal plants far outweigh their purported gains. Advantages and damages that will emanate from these coal-fired plant projects must be thoroughly studied. It is alarming that the Aquino administration is promoting and supporting ‘dirty and pollutive’ coal plants as a source of energy in the country,” Mariano said. (Fernan Marasigan)