The Senate public services committee is open to  the review of the congressional franchise of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) as it concerns a critical need of Filipinos. "The recurring power outages being experienced by millions of households amid the scorching months should not be the norm," Senator Grace Poe, committee chairperson, said in a statement released Monday, May 15. "We must also exercise vigilance when it comes to our power lines, to ensure that electricity running from Luzon to Mindanao remains under the control of Filipinos amid security concerns raised by senators,"  she stressed. Poe said her committee would thoroughly scrutinize the performance of the NGCP and see if it has remained faithful to its signed franchise or if violations have been committed. Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said calls to review the franchise of the NGCP "makes a lot of sense." Given the increasing occurrence of brownouts in the Philippines, the government should be more pro-active in ensuring that there would be enough power supply in the country, especially with the imminent occurrence of El Niño, he explained. "For this reason, we filed, as early as March, Senate Resolution No. 556 calling on the Department on Energy and other concerned agencies to present programs, activities and initiatives to ensure continuous supply of energy in the country throughout the year,"  Villanueva said.