N. Vizcaya gov’t to take over Casecnan

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — The provincial government is all set to take over the facilities of the Casecnan Multi-purpose Irrigation and Power Project (CMIPP) in Alfonso Castañeda town after negotiations have bogged down on the payment of its P300-million delinquent real property taxes.

Gov. Luisa Lloren-Cuaresma said she has approved the issuance of a warrant of levy for California Energy (Cal-Energy), which owns and operates the multimillion-peso CMIPP, for its failure to pay its real property taxes to the provincial government.

"Upon official receipt of the warrant of levy by (Cal-Energy), the provincial government will take control of the CMIPP," she said.

Cuaresma said the warrant of levy will be served anytime this week. It could have been served last week had it not been for the week-long celebration of Nueva Vizcaya’s 166th founding anniversary.

She said the warrant of levy would subject all CMIPP facilities within the province under the control of the provincial government.

"Enough is enough. They don’t want to pay us. So there’s nothing we can do, except to take over the project. We have to implement our local tax laws as embodied in the Local Government Code," she said.    

The provincial government’s takeover of the CMIPP has been stalled a number of times since last January after Cal-Energy, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) and the Department of Finance vowed to come up with a "win-win solution."

But until now and despite numerous meetings with Cal-Energy, NIA and the finance department, Cuaresma said nothing has happened, hence, "We have to close or take over the project."

Ever since, Cal-Energy has insisted that it should be the NIA which should pay the real property taxes based on the memorandum of agreement they forged in 2003.

The provincial government, however, demanded that it is Cal-Energy which should settle the real property tax obligations, it being the owner and operator of the CMIPP. 

Besides, the NIA earlier admitted that it lacks funds to pay the provincial government.

Cal-Energy executives earlier promised to comply with the provincial government’s demand if the finance department, which has the last say on the matter, would tell them to do so. The DOF vowed to settle the matter.

Cuaresma said the negotiations turned out to be just "a waste of time and money."

"If they really want to pay us, they could have already (done so) earlier," she said.

Cuaresma said the provincial government will now take over the CMIPP and it is up to the concerned parties to question its action in court.

"But in the meantime, we will take over the project," she said.

Last February, the provincial government issued its final demand letter, compelling Cal-Energy to settle its tax obligations.  

Constructed under a 25-year, build-operate-transfer deal, the P400-million CMIPP was one of the flagship projects of the administration of former President Fidel Ramos, especially when the country was facing a debilitating power crisis.

The CMIPP now irrigates at least 300,000 hectares of farmlands in Central Luzon and some parts of western Pangasinan, through a 36-kilometer diversion underground tunnel from the Casecnan and Taal Rivers in Alfonso Castañeda to the Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija.

The CMIPP is also generating at least 500 megawatts for the Luzon power grid.