Power firm says Napocor liable for P1.8-B unpaid taxes

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – The National Power Corp. (Napocor) is responsible for the payment of P1.866 billion in unpaid taxes and penalties of Bauang Private Power Corp. to the provincial government of La Union.

Vice Gov. Martin de Guzman told The STAR that BPPC is insisting that Napo­cor is the one in charge of the payment allegedly based on their contract.

“BPPC is running after Napocor for the payment of their taxes because their contention is they have an agreement for that matter. They can still redeem the plant (from the provincial government) and insists that Napo­cor will pay the taxes,” De Guzman said.

BPPC started operation in 1995 through a 15-year “build-operate-transfer” contract with Napocor. The contract will end in 2010.

The 225 megawatts bunker-fired power plant situated in Barangay Payocpoc in Bauang town was declared property of the provincial government after the Supreme Court resolved with finality on June 20 last year that it has to pay the P1.866 billion unpaid taxes.

On Feb. 1, the plant  was placed for public auction but not a single bidder participated that’s why it was automatically sold to the provincial government, according to provincial treasurer Francis Estigoy.

The provincial government decided to auction the power firm after Gov. Manuel Ortega disagreed with BPPC’s request to pay only 10 percent of the total assessment level. 

De Guzman said they are now finalizing the formation of a task force to conduct inventory on BPPC’s equipment and a security team to prevent unceremonious ship-out of machineries and facilities.

“We are coming up with a Task Force to supervise (the plant operations). We will make an inventory (on the equipment) the soonest time as possible. We will be seeking police assistance (on the security),” he said.

He said that the Task Force will be formed through an executive order to be signed by Ortega.

De Guzman said that BPPC is still allowed to operate because they are given one year redemption period.