Petron to file corruption charges vs PNOC president

MANILA, Philippines – Petron Corporation executives, led by tycoon Ramon Ang, will file corruption charges against Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) President Reuben Lista for his alleged “unexplained wealth.”

Ang told reporters on Saturday night, October 28, that they would file charges before the Office of the Ombudsman in the next few days.

“Where did his money come from? He continues to post on his FB (Facebook) his many properties such as the one in Essensa. He has unexplained wealth,” the Petron president said.

“There had been several unpleasant incidents with Lista,” he added without providing details, saying the complaint is still being finalized.

It was just last week when Petron asked the Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court (RTC) to issue a temporary restraining order against the PNOC for allegedly breaching their lease agreements by seeking to void renewal clauses.

“[Lista] is challenging us. Now, we are the ones who will file charges against him, PNOC. He even facilitated to offer the property to the new oil players,” Ang said.

The listed oil refiner has existing lease agreements with the PNOC for the properties where its $3-billion refinery in Bataan, 24 bulk plants, and 67 gasoline stations are located. The contracts will expire in August next year.

Petron supplies over a third of the Philippines’ petroleum requirements. (READ: Petron net income surges to over P8 billion in 1st half of 2017)

A provision for renegotiation is stated in the contracts, where in case of failure to come to an agreement, the same terms and conditions would apply. 

However, the PNOC said these conditions are disadvantageous to the government. 

Petron then offered to negotiate the agreements with the PNOC as early as 2016.

But the company said it had to seek legal intervention when Lista announced early this year that the PNOC would end the lease agreements.

“If PNOC will continue to disregard its reciprocal obligations on the conveyance of our land, then they should return the properties to us. Petron has invested billions of dollars on these properties,” Petron had said. 

For its part, the government formed a negotiating team to come up with a “win-win solution.” 

Asked to comment on this, Ang replied: “It’s already too late. It has been a year already. What else is there to change with a negotiating team? Let the court decide.” – Rappler.com