orate News
to'venture ints
power generatioil, eyes Malaytr
By Dcnise A, Valdez Reporter
REP. MICHAEL L- RoMERO of
I-Pacman Pa*y-list is seeking to
venture into the power genera-
tion business, starting with a bid
to take over the 650-negawatt
Malaya thermal power plant in
Pililia" Rizal.
The coirntry's richest law-
nraker, whose net worth reached
P7.858 billion in 2018, said in
a recent chance interview he
wants to "surprise" the power
sector with his plans to become
a bigger player in the energy iu-
dustry.
"'I'r1ng power ge[eration,
slowlypumapaso/r ncrftanii (We're
slou'ly entering the power gen-
eration sector). We're {inalizing
a few (things), and it will be fin-
ished slguro by the end of the
year, our acquisition of different
power fplaats]. We will also bid in
the Malaya powe! plant," he told
reporters on Oct. 9.
The Power Sector Assets and
Liabilities ManagemeDt Corp.
(PSALM) started the second
round of bidding for the Ma-
laya power plant'on Oct, 7 a$er
Iast morith's auction failed with
only one participant. A ple-bid
conference is set on Thursday,
Oct. 24.
"We have already comnenced
the second round ofbidding... The
bid submission date for this sec-
ond round of bidding is Novem-
ber 22," PSAI,M President and
chief Executive Irene B. Garcia
told,BusrnessWorld in a text nes-
sage .t flday.
Asked about Mr. Romero's
plan to participate inthe bidding,
q
nAqcz -a
howeve!, Ms. Garcia said she
hasn't been in communication
wiih the businessman. But she
named Panasia EnergY Holdings,
hc.; Phinma Energy Corp. 4nd
Hill Trench Power, Inc. as among
thole thlt have indicated interest
to bid.
. Aside from plans involviDg Ma-
laya,Mr Romero said he trants to
put up three power Plants in Min-
danao and one in Luzon. Those
that will be in Mindanao are for
renewable and coal energY, while
the one in Luzon will be for hy-
dropower.
So far, Mr. Romero's elgage-
ment in the energy sector is
through his companY Crown In-
vestment Holdings, Inc., which
manages Zamboanga CitY Elec-
tric Cooperativg Inc. (Zaurcelco),
the power distributot' of Zambo-
anga City.
r ltrt
]Ie said through Zamcelco,'
his group is now distributing I30'
megawatts everyday. But in terms;
of power generation, he exPectsi
to consolidate 300-350 rn'ega-
watts by next year through the
various power plants he's Plal-.
dng to put up.
Mr. Romero has several busi-;
nesses in various sectors in hisl
portfolio, such as PhiliPPines,
AirAsia, Inc., IMhere his family
owns a 6jqa stake through F&S
Holdings, Inc. He is also with
GlobalPortgo0, Iuc.; Manila
North Harbour Po!t, I[c. and
Sultan 900 Capital, Inc., among
others. l
"Our power business is the
business that I'm very very ex-
cited about," Mr. Romero said
"There's a big, big surprise next
year. It will be the first of its
kind."