ENERGY Development Corp. (EDC) has added one more power plant among those on extended shutdown in the wake of the 6.5-magnitude earthquake that hit Leyte, the site of its geothermal plants.

“Based on initial assessment, the Mahanagdong Power Plant will need to be on extended outage for repair works on damage to the structures of cooling tower units and to the plant’s substation,” the Lopez-led company told the stock exchange on Tuesday.

“This is in addition to the earlier reported one unit each of both EDC’s Malitbog power plant and that of its wholly owned subsidiary Green Core Geothermal, Inc.’s (GCGI) Tongonan Power Plant,” it added.

EDC previously said that both the Tongonan and Malitbog power plants would need to be on extended outage for repair works on damages to the structures of their respective cooling tower units.

The magnitude 6.5 earthquake occurred at 4:03 p.m. on July 6, in Jaro town of Leyte, damaging power and transmission facilities in the area and resulting in power outage in Samar, Leyte and Bohol provinces. Panay, Negros and Cebu islands experienced power interruptions but are fully restored.

After assessing the impact of the earthquake, EDC noted visible damage to a number of circuit breakers, current transformers and other ancillary switchyard equipment in its marshaling station.

The marshaling station is where the power from the Malitbog, Upper Mahiao and Mahanagdong power plants is pooled before its transmission from a single point to the islands of Leyte, Bohol, Cebu and Luzon.

In its latest advisory, EDC said the restoration of the marshaling station allowed the delivery of a total around 200 megawatts (MW) from Malitbog bottoming cycle plant, Malitbog power plant and Upper Mahiao plant.

On Monday, the Department of Energy (DoE) said majority of the areas in Region 8, or Eastern Visayas, had been supplied with electricity based on the consolidated reports from EDC, National Grid Corporation of the Philippines and other members of what it called an “energy family.”

It said the quake-hit areas in Leyte, Samar and Bohol were being supplied with 194 MW or 76% of its recent 255-MW peak electricity requirement. The power load share of the provinces are as follows: Leyte and Samar with 137.4 MW, and Bohol with 56.6 MW.

The DoE gave its assurance that “the energy family is working 24/7 to ensure that all energy facilities affected by the quake are repaired and brought back online to target the projected demand which could reach as high as 291 MW.” — Victor V. Saulon

DEL MONTE Philippines, Inc. (DMPI) said it paid the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) P5.9 billion in total taxes from 2011 to 2013, dismissing claims that it had avoided the payment of almost P30 billion in taxes for the three-year period.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the subsidiary of listed firm Del Monte Pacific Ltd. (DMPL) clarified that it never received a tax assessment of P21 billion in 2011, as previously reported in the media. The company called the alleged tax assessment “outrageous,” given that its revenues for the year only amounted to P16.8 billion.

“For 2011, DMPI was issued a deficiency assessment for P14.9 million (due to disallowed deductions and timing issues) which it paid the BIR,” the company said.

Meanwhile, DMPI said the assessment of P3.43 billion and P5.2 billion for 2012 and 2013, respectively, had been “satisfactorily substantiated” for a much lower price accepted by the BIR.

DMPI specified that the total taxes it paid to the BIR amounted to P1.67 billion in 2011, P2 billion in 2012, and P2.25 billion in 2013, for a total of P5.9 billion. This includes income tax, fringe benefits tax, value-added tax, and documentary stamp tax.

The company added that it paid P1.2 billion in income taxes during the three-year period.

DMPI maintained its willingness to fully cooperate with the government should the case warrant an inquiry.

“DMPI has been diligently paying the correct taxes… In fact, DMPI is one of the Philippines’ top corporate taxpayers. For the years in question (2011-2013), DMPI was ranked #161 in 2011, #107 in 2012 and #77 in 2013 among the country’s top 500 corporate taxpayers,” the company said.

DMPI’s parent, DMPL, is engaged in the production and selling of packaged fruits and vegetables, canned fish, fresh pineapple, and pineapple concentrate, among others. Its shares are listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange as well as its Singaporean counterpart.

Shares in DMPL closed 44 centavos or 3.86% lower to P11.84 each on Tuesday. — Arra B. Francia