P692M income lost from use of Tañon

CEBU, Philippines - The government is supposed to earn P692.8 million out of the user’s fee to be paid by the National Transmission Corporation (Transco) for using the Tañon Strait Protected Seascape for its underwater cable transmission system.

This has not been realized after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources reduced the amount of fees.

Tañon Strait is the body of water between the islands of Cebu and Negros that was declared a protected seascape pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 1234 issued on May 27, 1998.

Transco, a government power distribution entity, had contracted the DENR for the installation of its 17 kilometer-long underwater cable transmission system for electric power grid distribution traversing from barangay Pondol, Amlan town, in Negros Oriental to barangay Suba, Samboan, Cebu.

Transco has an estimated one kilometer-wide cable transmission corridor, which has an area of roughly 17,500,000 square meters and an area of shoreline occupied for its office building at barangay Suba.

Records show that Transco requested the DENR to exempt it from the Resource User’s Fee of P350 million a year, but it was denied by the DENR Secretary.

However, the Protected Area Management Board-Tañon Strait Protected Seascape, through a resolution, approved the reduction of the RUF imposed on Transco from the original amount of P350 million to only P8,750,000 every year.

PAMP-TSPS also altered the original computation of the width of the cable transmission system corridor from one kilometer to only 50 meters and the minimum rate per square meter of area occupied was also reduced to P10 from the original P20.

Even if the RUF was already reduced to P8,750,000 a year, but still Transco refused to pay the amount and instead offered to only pay P1,750,000 every year, but again the PAMP-TSPS promulgated another resolution setting the RUF for Transco for only P3,560,000.

PAMB-TSPS explained the reduction of the RUF of Transco from P350 million to only P1.7 million that Transco’s project is not economically viable and that it could not satisfactorily satisfy the payment of the fee.

COA said the act of PAMB-TSPS is a gross violation of the provisions as provided for under the General Appropriations Act of 2008, which vests in the secretary of the agency or department concerned to approve or fix the fees and charges.

“It is not within the ambit of the authority granted to the board to reduce fees fixed by higher authorities. Likewise, it is Congress with the recommendations of the President and the COA, which as the sole power to effect a compromise through the reduction of resource user’s fees since the amount exceeded P100,000,” it said. — Rene U. Borromeo/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)