Manila Bulletin
Philippines
Hontiveros raises doubts over NGCP-NICA pact, says gov't should have full control of national grid
Philippines
Hontiveros raises doubts over NGCP-NICA pact, says gov't should have full control of national grid
Hontiveros raises doubts over NGCP-NICA pact, says gov't should have full control of national grid
Published Mar 15, 2023 04:57 am
Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday, March 15 raised concerns over the memorandum of understanding (MOU) entered into by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA).
Hontiveros said the Marcos government should first claify whether the state has regained full control of the operaton of the NGCP despite the China’s State Grid Corporation holding a substantial 40 percent stake in the country’s power grid.
“While I agree that the NGCP-NICA deal ‘was a good step in answering the challenge’ of cybersecurity in the country’s power system, there are critical strategic issues that urgently need further clarity,” Hontiveros said.
“During the last Congress, questions and doubts about national security relating to power grid operations were extensively discussed up to the level of executive sessions in the Senate,” she added.
“I stand by my assertion that our power grid will continue to be a target of cyber and other threats from China and other foreign countries for as long as it is not fully managed and secured by our very own government. I would like to know if the current government has assumed full control over the national grid,” Hontiveros reiterated.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. earlier welcomed the signing of an MOU between the two agencies, citing the importance of the agreement in thwarting cyberattacks on energy infrastructure.
But the senator said it would be pointless to create the strongest firewall to preent any cyberattacks when the potential and serious threat lies precisely within the grid’s structure of operations.
“Paano mo po-protektahan mula sa outside attacks kung yung banta ay nasa loob mismo (How can you protect from outside attacks when the threats can be found within)? The fact that China has control over the NGCP continues to worry me,” she said.
“Walang kwenta ang firewall kung ang Great Wall (of China) ay nandito na (The firewall is useless if the Great Wall of China is already here. When our power grid operator is owned by a foreign entity, whether in whole or in part, it will be more difficult for the government to defend it from cyber attacks,” she stated.
At the same time, the lawmaker reiterated her call for a full national security audit that would review and evaluate the performance of the NGCP as well as the possibility that China may control and remotely shut down the country’s power transmission system.
“As far as I recall, during the previous hearings in the Senate, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said they would conduct a thorough audit of the NGCP's security issues. Pwede sanang batayan ito ng MOU sa pagitan ng NGCP at NICA (This could have been a basis for the MOU between NGCP and NICA),” she pointed out.
Hontiveros said it is hard to trust the Chinese government due to its continued aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
“China and the Philippines have unresolved conflicts over the West Philippine Sea. The last thing we need is a cyber attack from within—which may possibly be launched from the China headquarters of this state-owned company,” the senator pointed out.
“We can only hope that NGCP will genuinely collaborate with NICA, and that whatever intelligence information they obtain will be used for the benefit of the country rather than to give China an advantage,” she said.