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Gatchalian, Ejercito seek new oversight probe into NGCP franchise amid widespread power outage
Philippines
National
Gatchalian, Ejercito seek new oversight probe into NGCP franchise amid widespread power outage
Gatchalian, Ejercito seek new oversight probe into NGCP franchise amid widespread power outage
Published May 14, 2023 08:10 am
At least two senators on Sunday, May 14 raised the need for a new oversight committee hearing into the operations of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) as widespread power outages continue to loom over the country.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said it is imperative to look into the possible implications on national security of the rotating blackouts happening in various areas in the country, considering that 40 percent of the NGCP’s franchise is controlled by the State Grid Corporation of China.
“Kapag nagkaroon ng alitan sa pagitan ng Pilipinas at China, hindi naman nila kailangang magpadala ng bala o missiles eh. Papatayin lang nila ang kuryente natin tapos na tayo (When there is a conflict between the Philippines and China, they don't need to send bullets or missiles. They will just turn off our electricity and we are done),” Gatchalian said in an interview on Radio DZBB.
“Dahil nga 40 percent ay pagmamaya-ari ng China kaya nga isa pa yan kaya dapat magkaroon ng oversight. Tignan natin kung ang NGCP sinusunod ang ating saligang batas (Since 40 percent is owned by China, that's another reason why there should be oversight. Let's see if the NGCP is following our Constitution),” the senator added.
Gatchalian pointed out that the Philippine Constitution is strict when it comes to power utilities and it is imperative that the management of the NGCP should be Filipinos.
“Nung mga unang panahon ko bilang chairman (of the energy committee), nadetect namin na may Chinese management na nakaupo sa kanilang management committee (But during my early days as chairman, we detected that there was Chinese management sitting on their management committee),” he pointed out.
“May mga Chinese na matataas ang ranggo sa NGCP at kapag mataas ang ranggo mo ibig sabihin may impluwensya ka sa Management. Yun ang nakakatakot. Unang-una, lumabag sila sa Saligang Batas at pangalawa pwede nilang imanipula (There are Chinese people who rank high in NGCP and when you have a high rank means you have influence in management. That's what's scary. First of all, they violate the Constitution and secondly they can be manipulated),” he lamented.
That is why a fresh inquiry into the state of the NGCP is in order, because “we should not only look at what we call commercial value, but national security” concerns should also be scrutinized.
“Dahil ang national security natin ay pinoprotektahan ang interes ng mamamayan at mas malaki ang tinitignan, ano ba ang pwedeng gawin ng ibang bansa para malagay tayo sa hindi maganda? So itong aspeto ng national security ay dapat mapag-usapan din sa transmission line natin (Because our national security protects the interests of the people and what we look at is bigger, what can other countries do to put us in a bad place? So the aspect of national security concerns in our transmission lines should also be discussed),” he stressed.
Also during the previous hearings, the NGCP has been using the Covid-19 pandemic as a convenient excuse whenever they are asked about the status of their maintenance projects.
“Ang pinakakumbinyenteng dahilan ay yung pandemic. Yan talaga ang default, kapag may delay, pandemic, kapag may problema, pandemic. Yan talaga ang dahilan. Pero nakita ko kasi as early as 2019 delayed na (ang projects), (The most convenient reason is the pandemic. That's really the default, when there's a delay, pandemic, when there's a problem, pandemic. That's really the reason. But I saw that the projects were already delayed as early as 2019),” the vice-chair of the Senate Committee on Energy said.
“Kung matatandaan natin nagkaroon na tayo ng imbestigasyon dito at napinpoint nga namin na karamihan sa mga proyekto ay delayed na. Yan ang isa sa mga sanhi kaya marami sa linya natin ay under capacity, ibig sabihin ang linya hindi kayang magbato ng malaking suplay ng kuryente. Kaya as early as 2019 marami kaming projects na nakitang delayed na (If you remember we already had an investigation here and we did point out that most of the projects have been delayed. That is one of the reasons why many of our lines are under capacity, which means that the line cannot handle a large supply of electricity. So as early as 2019 we have seen many of their projects have been delayed),” he said.
Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, likewise, renewed his call for a review of the NGCP’s franchise, recalling the power outage incident that happened at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
“Alam naman natin na meron tayong dispute with China sa West Philippine Sea. Paano kung papatayin lang nila ang ating grid? Mapa-paralyze ang ating bansa (We all know that we have an ongoing dispute with China on the West Philippine Sea. So what happens if they just switch off our grid? The whole country would be paralyzed,” Ejercito said also during a DZBB interview.
“I’m just being a realist. Sabihin na natin totoo, because usually, mas nagco-control niyan yung foreign company, yung 40 percent; dummy na lang iba diyan (let’s be honest, because usually the one that really controls the company is usually the foreign company that has a 40 percent stake, the rest are just acting as dummies),” he pointed out.
“Ang totoong nagco-control nito sa tingin ko ay talagang Chinese corporation…Any utility, dapat nasa control ng ating pamahalaan (I really believe that it is the Chinese corporation that controls the NGCP. But any utility should be fully controlled by our government),” Ejercito stressed.