Saturday, September 22, 2007 Power firm leaves Benguet's tax claims to court By Jane Cadalig
THE National Power Corporation (Napocor) has left to the court's decision the Benguet Provincial Government's demand for the power firm to pay franchise and real property taxes from the operation of two dams in the province.
Napocor corporate lawyer Fritz Sumaydan said the power generation company would let the court decide on Benguet's claim for settlement of franchise and real property taxes as they are not amenable to settling the province's claims.
Governor Nestor Fongwan said they are billing the company about P126 million for franchise taxes in generation and P300 million in transmission.
"We will insist on our share from the actual power generated and transmitted," Fongwan said, adding the Provincial Government is entitled to a 55 percent share from the one percent of the total power generated and transmitted by Napocor.
Benguet's claim on franchise taxes, Fongwan said, is "well-stated" under the Local Government Code (LGC) and was further localized through the passage of the province's Investment code.
Napocor representatives and provincial officials led by Fongwan recently met for initial settlement on Benguet's claims.
During the meeting, Napocor agreed to raise the level of assessment of the Bakun Hydro Plant from 10 to 20 percent. Also, the firm agreed to pay P6 million as compromise compensation to the province which covers unsettled taxes for the Bakun plant's operations.
