No deadline extension for YNN

State-run Power Sector Assets and Lia- bilities Management Corp. (PSALM) will no longer accept the upfront payment of YNN Pacific Consortium for the 600-megawatt (MW) Masinloc coal-fired power plant once the sale contract extension lapses on Aug. 6.

PSALM president Nieves L. Osorio said the agency is standing firm on the deadline amid allegations it would reconsider accommodating YNN anew with another contract extension to come up with the $227-million upfront payment and enable the government to complete the sale of the Masinloc power facility in Zambales.

"Our relationship with YNN will cease upon the effectivity of the termination notice on Aug. 6," Osorio pointed out. "This means that even if YNN requests that it be given more leeway – which it has not – PSALM is no longer in a position to entertain such petition. Besides, there is no indication at the moment that YNN can come up with the upfront payment."

Osorio clarified that the 30-day notice of termination for the sale contract which expires on Aug. 6 is not an extension but a procedure stipulated in the asset purchase agreement (APA).

"The 30-day stretch serves as a winding down period," she said in statement. "It is not an extension."

In Tuesday’s meeting of the House Committee on Energy tackling the Masinloc sale, Osorio spelled out that the sale was done in accordance with the mandate stipulated in Republic Act 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, and the provisions stated in the bidding procedures along with the transaction documents which include the APA.

The bid documents were submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA) before the bidding for the Masinloc power plant was conducted, she added.