The questionable transfer of the Malampaya Gas Field Facility invites more questions as more details are revealed. Shorn of all the smoke and mirrors, the irrefutable fact stands: what the DOE itself calls the backbone of the country’s power generation mix, is now in the hands of an untested and unknown entity.
The defense that transactions between private parties are “not subject to review” is unsatisfactory. What is concerned is not a car, a building or any ordinary asset. It is a facility that contributes more than 40% of the power for Luzon. It is a facility that sits right smack in an area that has grave national security implications. The government has not been shy in applying a militarized pandemic approach against ordinary citizens. That mindset would have been more suited in guarding a precious national asset.
It is not a simple matter of making the transaction transparent and understandable, and therefore acceptable. Malampaya is a critical piece of our national sovereignty and security. It cannot remain where it has been negligently left. The transaction requires immediate review.
We call on the DOE to put National interest first, and attend to the matters that became the convenient premise for this questionable transfer. The mystery of why Petroleum Supply Contract 38 has languished to near-expiry must be resolved. The Original Operators have run Malampaya competently for decades. The public interest is better served by letting them continue rather than transferring the facility to an entity that presents significant security risks.
Malampaya is a crown jewel of the country’s Energy infrastructure. That it ended up in the hands of an entity that is not technically or financially sound is beyond negligent, it is criminal. We applaud the Senate for its efforts and call on it to continue its probe. We ask the Ombudsman to exercise its powers in a timely manner before everything is too late. And we join the rest of the citizenry in demanding answers.