PSALM releases ‘nat’l wealth share’ to LGUs
By Myrna M. Velasco – Updated May 2, 2020, 8:01 AM
from Manila Bulletin
State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) has released the “national wealth share” of at least six local government units (LGUs) that have been hosting projects utilizing renewable energy (RE) resources.
PSALM President Irene Joy B. Garcia
According to the government-run firm, the recipients are the projects’ host-provinces of Benguet, Bukidnon, Laguna, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur and Pangasinan.
The aggregate amount remitted had been placed at ₱46.077 million; and this accounts for the LGUs share in national wealth (SNW) on the RE plants’ operations during the first quarter of this year.
PSALM President and CEO Irene Besido-Garcia said the immediate release of the SNW fund could be resorted to by the LGU-beneficiaries as added financial buffer in their Covid response initiatives.
The firm’s chief executive added that just to fast-track the release, these were even coursed through bank transfers “in order for the LGUs to access the funds.”
Following the release of the first quarter national wealth share, PSALM indicated that the LGUs could expect the next round of remittance in July this year to represent their share in the second quarter.
The company explained that the fund release is based on the provisions of the Local Government Code of 1991, wherein it was stipulated that “an LGU is entitled to receive either 1.0 percent of the gross sales or receipts of the preceding calendar year or 40 percent of the national wealth taxes, royalties, fees or charges derived by an entity engaged in the utilization and development of the national wealth, whichever is higher.”
For the specified beneficiary- LGUs, these are host communities to hydropower as well as geothermal electricity generating facilities – and the off-take agreements had been underwritten previously by the National Power Corporation (NPC) and transferred to its successor-firm PSALM.
