THE Department of Energy (DoE) has called for the immediate passage of legislation that will allow the government to tap into its accumulated share in the revenue from the offshore Malampaya natural gas project.

In a briefing on Thursday, Energy Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella said there is an urgent need for a law that will allow the use of the energy resource development fund, which is commonly known as the Malampaya fund.

“The Malampaya fund has a specific use. It’s only for energy resource development… because of that it is seldom used and does not have much benefit now. And yet we have the problem of the universal charge,” he said.

As of 2016, the DoE estimated the Malampaya fund to have reached P235.662 billion, which approximates the accumulated financial obligations, called stranded debts and stranded contract costs, which by law was assigned to the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) to collect. The offshore gas-to-power project west of Palawan was launched in 2001.

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