15 Aug 2010
The Commission on Audit (COA) denied that it reported that bonuses and expenses of the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation were tucked into PSALM's petition for Universal Charge for Stranded Debt (UC-SD) that the Corporation filed before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
In a letter to PSALM, State Auditor IV Gina Maria Molina, COA-PSALM Audit Team Leader, clarified that her Audit Team has "not issued to PSALM any audit observation report" which states that PSALM tucked into its petition for UC-SD the bonuses and expenses of the Corporation.
The clarification stems from a news report claiming that an audit observation report issued by the COA stated that the bonuses and part of such expenditures were tucked into PSALM's P471-billion stranded debt recovery which it plans to pass on to power consumers.
PSALM had earlier stated in a release that it did not include in its UC-SD petition the bonuses it received, and its officers, in hearings before the ERC, made no claim that such expenses were included in the UC-SD.
The letter from State Auditor Molina further said that the Audit Team "has not provided any information/report to the media or even received any request from them of any information/report," which further put into question the integrity of the news report.
Strategic Communications and Partnership Division |