PSALM (the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp) president Raphael Lotilla, said, “The first bidding set the irreversible course towards full privatisation.”

Talomo was bought by local firm Hydro Electric Development Corp, which outbid two other unidentified firms. According to Filipino Energy Secretary Vincent Perez, “The presence of three bidders, including foreign firms, speaks well of the appeal of our generation assets to the business sector.”

The Philippines government is trying to offload 15 power plants – with a combined output capacity of 1,400 mW – by June 2004.

According to PSALM, “[We will] next auction off – as a package – two plants in the central island of Bohol with a combined capacity of 23.2 mW as well as a package of two small hydroelectric plants with a total capacity of 2.4 mW in the Bicol region southeast of Manila.”