The State-controlled Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) has expressed willingness to liquidate some of its assets just to settle its remaining obligation with the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), but maintained as legal its collection of toll fees at the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) even after the expiration of its franchise on April 30, 2010.

Atty. Chat Zamora, PNCC spokesperson, said that under the comprehensive report it has submitted to Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, the PNCC has expressed willingness to liquidate, with proper legal authorizations, other assets it has, just to settle it past concession fees with the TRB.

The report, he said, has stressed the intention of the PNCC to pay its unsettled concession fees — estimated at P3.9 billion from 1988 to 2005 — as early as March this year.

PNCC said it had offered the DoF in March 2010 the proceeds of its shares in the SLEx joint venture companies, estimated by the Privatization Council (PrC) at a minimum bid value of P3.6 billion.

Zamora stressed that PNCC has been restored to financial profitability since 2007, and is up to date with tax payments. It has paid its back taxes amounting to P125 million, and was awarded as one of the top taxpayers of Mandaluyong City in 2007.

Zamora, meanwhile said PNCC’s operation of collecting toll was properly authorized and there is nothing illegal about it.

The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), Zamora said, issued a Toll Operation Certificate (TOC) effective May 1, 2007, authorizing PNCC to act as interim operator of the SLEx operations.

The TRB’s authority to issue a TOC is provided for under PD 1112.

“An interim operator for SLEx was required to continue the operations since the South Luzon Tollway Corp. (SLTC) was still in the process of undertaking the SLEx rehabilitation and expansion. TRB determined that PNCC remained the most logical and capable choice,” Zamora explained.

He said the report contained documents that show PNCC had turned over to the national government, through the TRB, the SLEx facilities, equipment and toll operations three days before its franchise expired as contained in PD 1113.

PNCC, through its report, reiterated its readiness to comply with the Department of Finance’s directives regarding funds owed to the national government in accordance with proper legal authorization, since it is accountable to more than 5,000 private minority shareholders aside from the national government which is the majority shareholder.

In spite of the absence of a framework for paying concession fees during the TOC period, PNCC not that it remitted to the national government a total of P420 million from 2008 to July 6, 2010 — representing almost 16 percent of gross total revenues collected.