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Friday, February 08, 2008
Groups question order on revenue sharing on Camago-Malampaya project (12:11 p.m.)
MANILA -- A bishop, a former Cabinet secretary and a group of lawyers and civilians filed a petition before the Court of Appeals (CA) questioning the constitutionality of a provision of an executive order (EO) which provides for the revenue sharing out of the operations of the Camago-Malampaya oil and natural gas project of Palawan.
In a petition for certiorari, prohibition and mandamus, petitioners said EO 683 should be struck down for being contrary to the Constitution and the Local Government Code (LGC), and which would imperil the government's territorial claim to the Kalayaan Islands, which forms part of the Spratlys group of islands.
According to petitioners Palawan Bishop Pedro Dulay Arigo, former Interior and Local Government Secretary Cesar Sarino, Dr. Jose Antonio Socrates and Atty. Harry Roque, the implementation of the EO would also deprive residents an equitable share of the proceeds of the multi-billion dollar project.
Named respondents were Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya, Palawan Governor Joel Reyes, 1st District Representative Antonio Alvarez, 2nd District Representative Abraham Mitra, and Philippine National Oil Company (Pnoc) Exploration Corp. president and CEO Rafael del Pilar.
Petitioners claimed that the EO was signed in the exercise of grave abuse of discretion amounting to a lack of jurisdiction of respondents.
The suit seeks to prohibit the disbursement of funds in accordance with EO 683 and urges the CA to "declare it illegal for being a violation of the Local Government Code and the 1987 charter and made in grave abuse of discretion amounting to a lack of jurisdiction."
They also asked the CA to issue a writ of mandamus directing the National Government to release the 40 percent share of the Province of Palawan from the proceeds of the Camago-Malampaya oil and gas fields under Sec. 290 of the LGC and the relevant constitutional provisions from the time it was withheld and until the time of the resolution of the petition.
Petitioners also asked the appellate court to issue an injunction directing the National Government, through its concerned agencies, to initially release the 40-percent share of the Provincial Government of Palawan from the proceeds of the Camago-Malampaya oil and gas fields for the year 2007.
"What the government wants to do in EO 683 really is a realignment of funds which is in violation of the Constitution. For in usual budgeting procedures of Congress, the share from the national wealth is included in the appropriation for 'Allocation to Local Government Units,' which is classified as a mandatory obligation of the National Government to the LGU and automatically released to the LGU in accordance with Sec. 29 of Republic Act (RA) 7160, otherwise known as the LGC," Roque said.
He added that the presidential directive practically granted the representatives from Palawan's two congressional districts a huge pork barrel fund-one that is arguably larger than the allocation of pork barrel for all members of the House of Congress appropriations.
He claimed that each district representatives would get to receive around P65 million a year under the annual Congressional Priority Development Assistance Fund (Pdaf).
Under the terms of EO 683 the money will be coursed through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) upon the recommendation of the Department of Energy (DOE) and/or the Philippine National Oil Corporation-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC), a provision which he petitioners claimed is a violation of the constitutional provision on the equitable sharing of resources between the national government and the local government unit (LGU).
The Camago-Malampaya oil and natural gas project sits 80 kilometers off the northeastern coast of the province of Palawan in the South China Sea.
The project started when the government through the DOE entered into a service contract with Shell Philippines Exploration BV and Occidental Philippines on December 11, 1990 for the exclusive contract of petroleum operations in the area.
The exploration led to the drilling of the Camago-Malampaya natural gas reservoir from the coastline of Palawan and is projected to generate approximately US$8 to 10 billion of revenue for the government.
A dispute arose however between the Provincial Government and the National Government over the proportionate share of the proceeds of the natural gas project.
The Provincial Government of Palawan asserts its claim over a 40 percent share of the proceeds, according to the proceeds of the 1991 LGC.
The National Government, however, claimed the natural gas reservoir is approximately 80 kilometers from the coastline of Palawan and is thus outside its territorial jurisdiction. Hence, the Provincial Government's claim to entitlement to national wealth is unfounded.
The effort to negotiate of the local and the National Government's shares resulted in EO 683 authorizing the use of fees, revenues and receipts from service contract (SC38) for the implementation of development projects for the people of Palawan.
Among other things, EO 683 provides that under a Provisional Implementation Agreement (PIA) that would allow 50-percent of the disputed 40-percent in the net government share in the proceeds of SC 38 to be utilized for the immediate an effective implementation of the development projects.
Under the PIA, the DBM is authorized to release funds to the implementing agencies on the endorsement and submission by the DOE and/or the PNOC-EC of documents such as a directive from the Office of the President and a certification of the availability of funds from the 50-percent of the 40-percent share being claimed by the province of Palawan from the National Government share.
If the National Government would persist in the implementation of the EO, the country would lose its stronghold on its claim over the Kalayaan islands, considering that the province of Palawan is the strong and secure anchor on which the Philippine claim to the extended continental shelf (ECS) under the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Seas (Unclos).
"This is not only a legal argument but also a scientific one, because our own experts who have studied the area argue that the best way to claim an ECS in the area is to consider the Malampaya fields and the Kalayaan island group as a unified extension of the continental shelf of Palawan," petitioners said.
"Hence, the Philippine claim to sovereignty to the entire Kalayaan island group region, as well as to the Camago-Malampaya fields, cannot stand on any solid footing without acknowledging the existence of the continental shelf of Palawan, and without advancing it before the proper UN body, the Commission on the Limits of the continental shelf," they added. (ECV/Sunnex) |
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