House of Representatives (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

The House of Representatives is set to conduct a "thorough review" of the existing operating franchise of the country's lone grid operator, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

Deputy Speaker Quezon 2nd district Rep. David "Jay-jay" Suarez made this motion Monday, Dec. 23 during a briefing of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises, which initially sought an update on "the preparedness of power utilities for the projected impacts of La Niña".

During the briefing, NGCP Public Relations Chief Cynthia Alabanza opined that the system operator had fulfilled its responsibilities as stated in its franchise under Republic Act (RA) No.9511, which was passed back in 2008.

"If you look at the historical data, NGCP has outspent government five is to one, so in terms of yung obligasyon ho namin na gumastos at paunlarin po yung transmission grid, nagawa po yun," Alabanza claimed.

(So in terms of our obligation to spend money on and develop the transmission grid, we've accomplished that.)

"And we have fulfilled that responsibility Mr. Chair, in fact we have spent P182 billion between 2016 andn 2022. So mayroon ho talaga kaming inilalabas kasi kung hindi po kami gagastos, wala pong matatapos na proyekto," she said.

(So we're really spending money because otherwise, none of the projects will get finished.)

But Suarez didn't buy this explanation, and thus made the following motion. 

"Given that we are touching on sections and articles of the franchise being enjoyed by NGCP, I therefore move that the next committee hearing of the Committee on Franchise, we do a thorough review and we do a thorough analysis of the performance of NGCP with respect to its franchise," he said.

Seeing no objections from the members, committee chairman Paran̈aque City 2nd district Rep. Gus Tambunting promptly carried the motion. The next panel hearing is expected to be held before Congress resumes session on Jan. 13, 2024.

Seconding Suarez's motion was Santa Rosa City lone district Rep. Dan Fernandez. "It's high time to review the franchise of the NGCP, at kung kinakailangan pong i--revoke ang franchise na ito, let's do it, Mr. Chairman," said the co-chairman of the vaunted quad-committee (quad-comm).

Another congressman, minority bloc member 1-Rider Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez also backed the Quezon solon's motion. "I agree with the sentiments of DS Suarez and I support the motion to convert this to a thorough review of the franchise," he said.

In the power sector, the NGCP has a monopoly on the transmission side. It is 40 percent owned by China.

Although the agenda of Monday's briefing was on the preparedness of power utilities in connection with the inclement weather, attending solons used it as an opportunity to look into NGCP's overall performance as system operator.

Suarez and Fernandez were the ones who raised issues on the timeliness of NGCP's accomplishments--or lack thereof--as well as its inexplicably high dividends rate.

"Medyo nakakakulo ng dugo. Ang laki laki na nga ng kinikita nila, ang laki laki ng dibidendo nila, hindi pa nagbabayad ng buwis kasi nasa prangkisa nila na hindi dapat sila magbayad ng buwis, tapos ang mahal mahal ng presyo ng kuryente dahil nagbabayad tayo ng mga proyektong hindi pa tapos," Suarez said.

(This gets my blood boiling. They rake in huge profits, they give out huge dividends, they don't need to pay taxes because it says so on their franchise, and we have costly electricity because we're paying for projects that remain unfinished.)

For her part, Alabanza sought "more time" from the Tambunting panel since NGCP was unprepared to answer some of the lawmakers' questions. 

"We recognize of course the powers of the committee to look into the performance of NGCP. However, these are details that we are not prepared with today because we were looking more into operational," she said.

"We are not refusing to answer any of the questions po, but what we are saying that the detail at which we're making the discussion, we cannot match the preparedness of Congressmen Dan Fernandez and Jay-Jay Suarez," added Alabanza. 

"Again, we will be more than happy po to address these questions but we request that we be given time to give an intelligent answer. Because we all the public to understand the situation and NGCP of course is more than willing for the sake of transparency po," she further said.

Meanwhile, Suarez took exception to Alabanza's statement that NGCP had been outspending the government. 

"Unfair statement to say, that 'We're actually spending more than government.' Syempre, trabaho niyo yan eh (Of course, that's your jo,b). So don't compare it to government spending. Because you are supposed to establishing those transmission lines to begin with. That responsibility was given to NGCP under the franchise that was provided to you," he said. 

"They're giving dividends in the billions--in the billions! 91.2 percent ang payout rate nila sa mga dibidendo ng kanilang shareholders. Dapat inuuna nila yung priority, at yun ang pagbibigay ng tamang serbisyo sa taumbayan," Suarez said.

(Their dividends payout rate for their shareholders is 91.2 percent. They should prioritize providing proper service to the people.)

Officials from the Department of Energy (DOE) and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) also attended the House briefing.