(Unsplash)

The National Transmission Corporation (Transco) has acknowledged before congressmen its backlogs in right-of-way (ROW) cases, including projects that go beyond their existence, as well as those that are related to the operation of the power grid.

Transco Vice President Donna Dizon made this admission during the House Committee on Legislative Franchises' hearing Thursday, Jan. 23, regarding the operating franchise of transmission company National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

During the 10-hour House inquiry, Philreca Party-list Rep. Presley de Jesus grilled Transco upon seeing a link between backlogs in the ROW cases and delays in NGCP’s ongoing projects. 

ROW is the legal entitlement granted to a person or an entity to pass through or use a portion of another person’s property for a specific purpose.

Dizon explained that ROW cases were “left to for the government to settle” when the concession with the privately-owned NGCP was prepared or the bid was set out.  

However, she claimed that the cases handled by Transco pertained to assets that were already operating at the time when they transferred the concession to NGCP, the country’s lone power grid operator.

“If there are no claims for Transco to settle, we are not able to do this for the entire Philippines. The lengthy process is the validation if the piece of lot is part of the transmission project before and the valuation that will go in the settlement of the lot,” Dizon added.

ROW issues have been hampering NGCP projects for the past 15 years. 

Since taking over from Transco in 2009, NGCP has struggled with ROW issues throughout the country for both new and the transmission projects that they acquired from the government. NGCP is currently maintaining and operating these old projects. 

“If you, being a government entity, hindi niyo nagagawa kaagad in time, how much more ang private o ang concessionaire niyo, ang NGCP?” De Jesus lamented.

(If you, being a government entity, you weren't able to finish them in time, how much more a private company or your concessionaire, the NGCP?)

“At the end of the day, whatever the results of this motu proprio [investigation], kung hindi rin natin mapapababa ang presyo ng kuryente, useless din po ang ginagawa natin,” he further said.

(If we aren't able to lower prices of electricity, then what we're doing here is useless.)