Mandanas tied to firm in natural gas boom

(UPDATES) AN influential politician in the Philippines, who has been a cheerleader for natural gas power, is behind a company that planned to make a fortune from it, an Associated Press investigation of thousands of pages of documents has found.

Gov. Hermilando Mandanas of Batangas province and his late wife stood to profit from a buildout of liquefied natural gas power — he owned the largest share in a real estate firm that soared in value as energy companies moved in, while he promoted the expansion in media interviews and public events. The firm also launched its own natural gas project.