MANILA, Philippines — State-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) has trimmed down its financial liabilities to P466.2 billion as of end-2017.

This was a decrease of 7.9 percent from 2016’s level of P506.3 billion and a decrease of 62.4 percent vis-à-vis the peak 2003 level of P1.24 trillion.

PSALM said it settled a total of P73.3 billion in financial obligations, broken down into P55.9 billion debts and independent power producer (IPP) obligations, and P17.4 billion interest.

Aside from the debt servicing last year, the state-run firm has paid P10 billion to the Bureau of the Treasury for the advances made in 2016 that was utilized to bridge the financing gap.

Payments were sourced from collections from its power generation, privatization proceeds, and universal charge (UC)—a separate line in consumers’ electricity bills and is used to pay off the debts of the National Power Corp. (Napocor).

To date, the privatization proceeds stood at P528 billion, while the collection from the stranded contract cost portion of the universal charge reached P56.9 billion.

PSALM said it projects to further decrease its financial obligations substantially when the corporate life of PSALM ends in 2026 as it intends to continue its privatization efforts including the sale of real estate assets, collection of UC and power generation proceeds.

This year, it prioritizing the sale of its non-power assets this year to augment its funding sources.

It said it will focus on the sale of 231 lots as part of its real estate asset privatization program. In its inventory and profiling, PSALM’s land properties are comprised of 6,160 lots with aggregate area of about 10,000 hectares.

It has lined up for public bidding eight lots (20,975 sqm) of the Manila Thermal Power Plant and 92 lots (257,995 sqm) of the Bauang Diesel Power Plant.

It has also issued “offer to sell” for its two-unit Puerto Azul Ocean Villas Condominium located in Cavite to members of the Puerto Azul Golf and Country Club (PAGCC).

PSALM said it will continue to manage, trade and sell the energy output of the Unified Leyte Geothermal Power Plant (ULGPP) including the 40-MW ‘strip of energy’ under PHINMA Energy Corp.’s administration.

The state-run firm also said it will seek its board’s definitive policy on the privatization of 650-megawatt (MW) Malaya Thermal Power Plant (TPP) and Mindanao Coal-Fired Power Plant.

PSALM’s financial obligations peaked to P1.24 trillion in 2003 from P831 billion in 2000. The bulk of PSALM’s financial obligations are foreign denominated, with a huge portion based in US dollars.

Sixteen years after the passage of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), PSALM’s debt servicing, inclusive of interest and other charges, reached P1.47 trillion at end last year.

These payments covered P555.7 billion maturing IPP obligations, P567.7 billion principal debts and P346 billion interest and other charges.

The total amount paid could have entirely wiped-out the 2000 figure it assumed from the National Power Corp. had there been no complex and inevitable factors resulting in its increase through the years, it said.

“These factors, PSALM is referring to, include the necessary commissioning of new power plants between 2001 to 2006 to prevent the power shortage that paralyzed the country in the 1990s until early 2000, refinancing or new loans to fill the gap when maturing obligations fall due, and the vulnerability of PSALM’s assumed loans to foreign exchange fluctuations,” PSALM said.

“For every peso depreciation against the US dollar, PSALM’s financial obligations will increase by P7.26 billion,” it said.

This article first appeared on www.PhilStar.com