SASMUAN, Pampanga—The chair of the House committee on energy, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, said the committee has not given up efforts to audit three big oil companies in the country.
In an interview here on Thursday, Arroyo said the committee has lined up several legislative measures to “obligate this constitutional body to audit the oil firms.”
He declined to give details, saying, “I don’t want to be telegraphing my punches. But let me assure the Filipino people that this representation is working for them.”
The committee pressed for its right to scrutinize the accounts of the oil companies after the Supreme Court ruled that the Commission on Audit does not have jurisdiction over private companies.
A judge in the Regional Trial Court in Manila had earlier ruled that in the interest of the public, the COA as well as the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue must be allowed to check the books of accounts of Shell, Petron and Caltex.
“Now we have to find ways and means, of course within the bounds of law, to have these oil firms audited. Only through a decent and authorized audit we will find out if there is indeed overpricing and if there’s overpricing, the people deserve a rollback or if they don’t want to give a rollback, these oil companies must pay the proper taxes, Arroyo said.
In another development, Arroyo said the passage of the Renewable Energy Law has started attracting investors in the “budding industry.” That includes, he said, the Aboitiz and Zamora families. He provided no details on those projects.
Arroyo did not say if the committee has thrown out a bill seeking the immediate recommissioning of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in Morong, Bataan. The 620-megawatt plant had been mothballed for 25 years starting during the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino in 1986.
“The main proponent [of the BNPP revival bill] is Congressman [Mark] Cojuangco. It passed the committee energy. It’s now in the appropriations committee so when it’s passed there, it is brought to the authority of the plenary,” he said. The bill has not been tackled yet in the plenary. Legislators had approved P100 million to fund further studies on the safety of the BNPP before giving its revival a nod..
In an interview here on Thursday, Arroyo said the committee has lined up several legislative measures to “obligate this constitutional body to audit the oil firms.”
He declined to give details, saying, “I don’t want to be telegraphing my punches. But let me assure the Filipino people that this representation is working for them.”
The committee pressed for its right to scrutinize the accounts of the oil companies after the Supreme Court ruled that the Commission on Audit does not have jurisdiction over private companies.
A judge in the Regional Trial Court in Manila had earlier ruled that in the interest of the public, the COA as well as the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue must be allowed to check the books of accounts of Shell, Petron and Caltex.
“Now we have to find ways and means, of course within the bounds of law, to have these oil firms audited. Only through a decent and authorized audit we will find out if there is indeed overpricing and if there’s overpricing, the people deserve a rollback or if they don’t want to give a rollback, these oil companies must pay the proper taxes, Arroyo said.
In another development, Arroyo said the passage of the Renewable Energy Law has started attracting investors in the “budding industry.” That includes, he said, the Aboitiz and Zamora families. He provided no details on those projects.
Arroyo did not say if the committee has thrown out a bill seeking the immediate recommissioning of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in Morong, Bataan. The 620-megawatt plant had been mothballed for 25 years starting during the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino in 1986.
“The main proponent [of the BNPP revival bill] is Congressman [Mark] Cojuangco. It passed the committee energy. It’s now in the appropriations committee so when it’s passed there, it is brought to the authority of the plenary,” he said. The bill has not been tackled yet in the plenary. Legislators had approved P100 million to fund further studies on the safety of the BNPP before giving its revival a nod..
