Thursday, November 15, 2007 Benguet sues Napocor; demands payment of P56M in taxes By Jane Cadalig
THE Provincial Government of Benguet in its effort to collect unpaid taxes sued the National Power Corporation (Napocor) to collect P56 million in franchise taxes for the operations of the Binga Hydro Power Plant.
Benguet Governor Nestor Fongwan said this is the province's last resort to collect from Napocor what it owes the province.
In a complaint filed before a local court on Monday, the province is asking the Napocor and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (Psalm), to pay the province P56,900,682.32, franchise taxes derived from the operation of Binga.
The amount, inclusive of interests and surcharges, represents the unpaid taxes from the last quarter of 2001.
In September 2002, the Provincial Treasury Office began sending demand letters for Napocor to pay its franchise taxes but the power generation firm had ignored these.
Several demand letters followed in 2003 and 2004. The last demand letter was issued October 3, 2007.
The Provincial Government is pressing for the Napocor and Psalm to settle the franchise taxes, fearing that this would not be settled at all, once the two dams - Binga and Ambuklao - are bid out.
Psalm, which took-over ownership of Binga and Ambuklao, set the public bidding on November 28, as part of the move to privatize Napocor.
"With the pressing disposition of the properties of Napocor, the payment of huge amount of unpaid taxes due (the province) is an immediate concern," the petition stressed.
