ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Solon hits 'deplorable' NGCP practice, calls for franchise review

Solon hits 'deplorable' NGCP practice, calls for franchise review

Published Aug 20, 2023 07:45 am

At A Glance

  • Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray Reyes has castigated the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines' (NGCP) for its alleged non-payment of its franchise tax for 12 years and passing on to consumers the 3 percent tax it owes to the government. 

FB_IMG_1683434268839.jpg

Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray Reyes (Facebook)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deplorable, appalling. 

That's how Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Ray Reyes described the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines' (NGCP) alleged non-payment of its franchise tax for 12 years and passing on to consumers the 3 percent tax it owes to the government. 

"This is a deplorable practice, and one that warrants a thorough review of the franchise of the NGCP," Reyes said in a statement Sunday, Aug. 20. 

Reyes noted that based on the financial statement sent by NGCP to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), NGCP was more than capable of paying its franchise tax, yet still chose to pass on the responsibility to consumers. 

"Nakakabahala (It's concerning)," he, noting that the corporation  had a net income of more than P20 billion annually since 2011. 

"I am appalled and we should be deeply concerned as this is but part of a long list of questionable practices by the NGCP," added the neophyte solon. 

The lawmaker bemoaned the fact that the NGCP looks perfectly content in merely paying penalties and lacks the urgency to fulfill their franchise obligations. 

"Nakakalungkot dahil kahit maraming penalties na ipinapataw sa kanila, patuloy na kumikita ang NGCP, kaya naman parang mas gusto na lang nito na magbayad ng penalties kesa kumpletuhin ang mga ipinangakong proyekto. Kailangan mapanagot ang ganitong mapang-abusong gawain," he said. 

(It's saddening because even if they get flooded with penalties, the NGCP continues to earn profits, and they seem to be content on just paying the penalties instead of competing their promised projects. This abusive action must be met with accountability.) 

Reyes also cited NGCP's financial data which shows how NGCP is more focused on paying out dividends to its shareholders than completing projects for consumers. 

"Noong taong 2011, 2013, at 2014 mas mataas pa ang dividend payout ng NGCP kesa sa kanilang net income. Kung ganito ang pamamalakad sa NGCP, hindi na po kataka-taka kung bakit ang daming aberya at tila wala silang nakukumpletong mga proyekto," he added. 

(In the years 2011, 2013, and 2014, the NGCP's dividend payout was higher than its net income. If the NGCP is being run this way, then that explains why they're encountering so many delays and can't seem to complete a project.)

 

Related Tags

Anakalusugan Party-list ray reyes
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.