DOE to bare guidelines on P300-M special purpose fund from Pagcor

The Department of Energy (DOE) will sign today a memorandum circular that will spell out the guidelines on the release of the P300-million special purpose fund from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).

"I will release today the guidelines. The fund will be available for relending to new oil players soon," Energy Secretary Vincent S. Perez said yesterday.

Perez said they have tried to make the guidelines as "liberal and non-restrictive" as possible. "We may allow the use of letters of credit. We are also considering to allow existing new oil players to avail of the fund," he added.

Perez said providing such fund would encourage more players to come in. "We want to enhance competition in the market. This will encourage new entrepreneurs to enter in the downstream oil industry," he said.

The fund is provided for under the Republic Act No. 8479 or the Oil Deregulation Law. The DOE and Pagcor have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to implement this provision of the said law," he said.

Specifically, Section 10 of the Oil Deregulation Law provides that the "DOE shall, in cooperation with the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), coordinate with new industry participants and existing petroleum dealers’ associations in the formulation and implementation of a two-fold program on management and skills training for the establishment, operation, and maintenance of gasoline stations."

According to Perez, the fund to be set up by Pagcor and to be administered by the DOE will be loaned out to small entrepreneurs who want to put up a gas service station.

He said a criteria will be set and interested parties will have to apply with the DOE. "If they will meet the criteria set by DOE’s Energy Industry Administration Bureau headed by Naydee Monsada, they will be granted a loan," he said.

The energy chief said the loan applicants could avail of up to P5 million maximum from the P300 million so-called Gasoline Station Training and Loan Fund.