ECA Watch: The Problems

Former President Fidel Ramos opened the door for Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to quickly set up plants across the Philippines, approving many risky and unnecessary power projects. ECAs were quick to guarantee deals made by foreign power companies which would soon bring the Philippine government into heavy debt. The Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency (PhilEXIM) meanwhile is making deals with ECAs in other countries in order to strengthen their support of projects in the Philippines, and is giving credit to support the Inco Goro Nickel mine in New Caledonia (Kanaky).

* Important Background Documents on Philippines
* Casecnan Multipurpose Irrigation and Power Project
* San Roque Hydropower and Irrigation Project
* Bataan Nuclear Power Plant
* News Items 2004-05
* News Items 2002-03

Important Background Documents:

The Casecnan Multipurpose Irrigation and Power Project:

The Casecnan Multipurpose Irrigation and Power Project located in Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines, has received financing from the US ECA Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). California Energy, one of the proponents of Casecnan project, got USD $250M in support from OPIC. The amount includes a $100M loan guarantee and up to $150M in political risk insurance for the construction and operation of the plant, a run-of-the-river hydro facility. The project went on-stream in early 2003. The plant has been a high-cost project for the government from the start. The government is required to pay a certain amount to CalEnergy, whether or not they are able to provide the promised amount of energy. The cost of the electricity rises every year faster than the rate of inflation of the US dollar, with which the government buys the electricity. Now, the plant faces closure and seizure by the government due to contention over P338 million in occupation fees and property taxes which CalEnergy refuses to pay.

San Roque Hydropower and Irrigation Project:

Development of the San Roque dam comes primarily from Japan's ECA Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), who agreed to loan the project USD $302M to $400M in support. Construction of the dam necessitates the displacement of the indigenous Ibaloi people, whose consent on the project should have been required under the Indigenous Peoples� Rights Act. The dam will prevent people from farming and subsistence gold mining by removing them to areas where those activities are impossible. It will also decrease the quality of the water by creating a large amount of sedimentation.

...More About the San Roque Project

Profile of the San Roque Multipurpose Hydroelectric Power Plant by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

International Rivers Network: San Roque

A Case study of the San Roque Multipurpose Project by the Institute of Philippine Culture

Bataan Nuclear Power Plant:

Construction of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plan has been complete since 1985, yet the plant still does not produce any power. The location of the plant made operation unsafe, being situated near a fault line and the Pinatubo volcano. However, due to accumulating interest from the loan by the ECA US ExIm Bank, the plant is costing the Philippine government USD $155,000 a day. Westinghouse won the bid for financial backing of the facility with a projected cost of $600M. However, in the end, construction of the plant ended up costing around $2B. Meanwhile, the legality of the contract awarded to Herminio Disini, a friend of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, to engineer construction of the plant is now in question.

Bataan nuclear plant costs $155,000 a day but no power June 30, 2004

Graft raps Re Bataan Nuclear Power Plant bid VS. Disini revealed July 2, 2004