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Two House of Representatives members have came out to debunk the alleged franchise violations of transmission company National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

Philreca Party-List Rep. Presley de Jesus and Cagayan de Oro City 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez did so during the first hearing of the Committee on Legislative Franchises on NGCP's operating franchise Tuesday, Jan. 14.

The conduct of hearings are part of a motu propio inquiry on the privately-owned grid operator, which is being hounded by controversies.

During Tuesday's proceedings, De Jesus said that it was unfair to place all the blame on NGCP for the delays in its transmission projects. 

“Ano ba ang purpose natin, pababain ang presyo ng kuryente o (What is our purpose here, to reduce prices of electricity or) we just blame one element of the energy family?” he asked.

Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Sharon Garin explained to the committee that several factors have contributed to these project delays. These include pending approvals from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and issues related to rights of way involving landowners and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

De Jesus stressed the importance of pursuing these transmission projects in order to bring down the cost of electricity

For his part, Rodriguez asserted that NGCP cannot be faulted for complying with the ERC decision to allow it to pass on the three percent franchise tax to consumers. 

“Is it not that in 2011 that ERC has approved the pass on provisions that the franchise tax is passed on and therefore their collection for that has been legal,” Rodriguez asked ERC Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta during the same hearing.

Rodriguez, a lawyer, maintained that NGCP has no liability for the franchise tax that were collected from consumers from 2011 to 2023, since the move was allowed by the regulatory body.

“The law is by ERC approval of this pass-on so there can be no study on that. The decision of the regulator is that they can pass on,” he said.

After ERC reversed its 2011 decision, Rodriguez said NGCP has been compliant with the order prohibiting it from having consumers shoulder the franchise tax. Dimalanta confirmed this.

“Clearly, we have the new regime and therefore they (NGCP) have to comply. So therefore, the alleged violation of tax provisions has no basis on the law and experience of the case,” Rodriguez underscored.

Like De Jesus, the Mindanaoan also questioned the purpose of the hearing, and noted that there’s no reason to conduct a probe since the grid operator had been compliant with the responsibilities under its franchise.

The next hearing of the franchise panel will be held next week.