PALAWAN, Philippines—The local elections here will decide who gets to control the multi-billion windfall from the province's cash cow—the US$4.5-billion Malampaya natural gas project.

Supplying fuel to 3 power plants in Luzon, Malampaya has generated as much as P150 billion for the national government since 2001. The local government has so far received a share of P3.1 billion.

The province's share could be bigger pending the resolution of the legal battle between the national and local governments over control of the revenues. While the case is pending, the local officials agreed to an interim agreement reducing Palawan's share. The agreement will expire on June 30.

On Monday's polls, voters here will decide if they want the same politicians, who compromised for a smaller share for the province, to control the funds. Gov. Joel Reyes and Rep. Abraham Kahlil Mitra of the province's 2nd district are swapping positions. Rep. Antonio Alvarez of the 1st district is seeking re-election.

Reyes and Mitra are allies. The latter is running against Alvarez's brother Jose.

Earlier, the Commission on Elections disqualified Mitra for failing to meet the minimum residency requirement in Aborlan, a town in the 2nd district . Acting on Mitra's motion, the Supreme Court on Friday issued a last-minute status quo order allowing Mitra to run.

The campaign has seen intense mudslinging between the candidates and their allies. All 3 officials are accused of misusing the Malampaya proceeds. Budget monitoring watchdog Kilusan Love Malampaya (KLM) said these politicians have been unfairly distributing the funds in favor of allies. The projects are allegedly questionable, too.

“They have turned the Malampaya fund into their ‘pork barrel.’” said Cesar Ventura, a former provincial budget officer and president of the KLM.

The irony

While the Malampaya project is able to supply energy to Luzon, several towns in the province are, ironically, suffering from lack of power supply

Mayors Acoy Marsito and Clarito Demaala Jr. of Espanola and Narra town, respectively, lament how the capitol has ignored their repeated requests for basic services like power and water supply.

“We were hopeful that the Malampaya money could help us provide electricity to our barangays because the resources of our town are very limited,” Marsito said.

"Perhaps, they prefer building roads because that's where they can get kickbacks,” added Demaala.

Under the Local Government Code, 80% of proceeds from development of energy resources should be used in lowering electricity rates.

Residents of some villages, like in Quezon municipality, have to spend as much as P52 per liter of gasoline a night to run their generators for a few hours. Mayor Abrea, meanwhile, said that during campaign season, they have to rent a generator every time they have sorties in the villages.

Favoring relatives

Mayors are complaining that Reyes and Alvarez are favoring their hometowns.

Reyes's Coron received among others a P200-million reclamation project. Alvarez's San Vicente, meanwhile, was able to build a P300-million airport from Malampaya proceeds.

Some island municipalities, like Agutaya and Cagayancillo, only got P8.83 million and P900,000 respectively. The town of Kalayaan located in the South China Sea, the group added, did not receive any single centavo from the Malampaya fund.

"Why do most of the projects went to Coron?" complained Bataraza Mayor Abraham Ibba, even if he has received P130 million worth of Malampaya funded projects.

“Island municipalities have been asking for projects from the provincial government every year, but the governor brings all of them to Coron,” said Magsaysay Mayor Manuel Abrea.

The KLM estimated that Abrea’s town received only P5.9 million from the Malampaya shares.

But Coron Mayor Mario Reyes, the brother of Governor Reyes, told abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak that he requested some of the projects that went to his town and all of them met the guidelines set by the national government.

Congressman Alvarez, for his part, said that all the projects in his district are implemented by the provincial government and are based on the province's development and annual investment plans.

Rolando Bonoan, who served as public information officer of the Palawan provincial government during the administration of Reyes, meanwhile, told abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak that the unequal distribution of projects happen because the provincial government must try to make the most out of the share given by the national government.

“We do not know when the national government will give us the next tranche of share, so we need to plan. Whenever you plan, there are priorities, and [in Palawan's case] we prioritize the projects that will have immediate economic returns,” Bonoan said in a phone interview. He added that the P200-million reclamation project in Coron is expected to raise P560 million in revenues.

Irregular road projects

On the other hand, allies of Alvarez have accused Mitra of allocating the funds to questionable projects.

KLM said some portions of the Malampaya fund for Mitra's district went to road projects that have been marred by irregularities.

In March this year, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Puerto Princesa District Office came up with an investigation on the Malampaya-funded roads and bridges in the 2nd district.

“Of the 83.5-km road improvement funded out of Malampaya gas share, 12% meets road maintenance objectives,” the NBI report said. “A majority of the project are not in adequate in status to ensure safe driving conditions. Typically they lack surface improvement, drainage improvement, alignment improvement.”

Mitra has dismissed the issue as a dirty trick against him.

“The alleged anomalies exist only in their imagination. Perhaps there may have been defects in the projects, but these defects are to be rectified before any payment is made. They consider simple defects as anomalous,” Mitra told abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak through an e-mail.

The third-term congressman, who is now running for governor, slammed KLM and accused the group of being connected to his political rivals.

“The people comprising KLM are our political adversaries. They are raising this issue against me and Governor Reyes. Why don't they look into the First District and the City of Puerto Princesa? Because Representative Alvarez and Mayor Hagedorn are in their camp?” Mitra said.

Time for new people?

Benefiting from the controversies is gubernatorial candidate Jose Alvarez, who is riding on the issue to attack Mitra.

“My administration shall prioritize projects that shall directly improve the plight of our constituents—focusing on health, education, livelihood, and clean drinking water. Only after these have been sufficiently addressed shall we embark on big-ticket infrastructure projects,” he told abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak in an e-mail.

KLM is not officially endorsing any candidate, but its record with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that one of its incorporators is Gerry Ortega, who admitted to abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak that he is helping the campaign of Alvarez.

“We already knew how they tackled the Malampaya issue before. If they (Palawan officials) win, then more or less we will have an idea how they are going to deal with this issue again,” Ventura added.

KLM has also criticized Rep. Antonio Alvarez's alleged misuse of Malampaya proceeds.

Two mayors interviewed by abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak also said that they are not inclined to support the incumbent officials involved in the Malampaya squabble and they may actually campaign for their rivals.

“They should not get the support of my people,” one of the mayors told us in a telephone interview.

The other mayor was more emphatic in his response: “I will make sure they will not win in my town.” (abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak)

RELATED STORIES:

• TIMELINE: The battle for Malampaya’s billions
• Part 1:Palace, Palawan faces off over Malamapaya’s $10 billion
• Part 2: 'Malampaya case affects other oil fields, Spratlys claim'
• Part 3: Malampaya funds ‘a huge pork barrel’
• ‘Release of Malampaya funds illegal’
• SC questions parties on Malampaya compromise