Senate Energy panel sets NGCP operations hearing

By Butch Fernandez- February 3, 2020

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/02/03/senate-energy-panel-sets-ngcp-operations-hearing/

THE Senate Committee on Energy has set a hearing on Monday into the operations of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) amid national security concerns raised by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian over China’s acquisition of 40-percent stake in the country’s lone transmission line.

Gatchalian, the Energy panel chairman, said the committee is keen to verify, among others, if Filipinos will remain in charge of the vital national power grid’s day-to-day management.

NGCP officials have in recent weeks given repeated assurances that Filipinos will always have operational control of the grid, but the senator said the inquiry will give the NGCP people a chance to lay to rest all claims to the contrary.

Gatchalian said the committee hearing will also enable senators to verify “compliance with the mandate of the country’s power transmission line to safeguard the grid and ensure continous supply of electricity in the country.”

The senator cited concerns over China’s 40-percent stake in the Philippines’s lone transmission line, recalling that certain energy officials earlier conceded the possibility of China remotely shutting down the country’s power supply when asked about it in last year’s budget hearing.

In a statement issued Sunday, Gatchalian said the power transmission line is “one of the vital facilities in our country, that is why it is very important that the management in control of the transmission line are Filipinos. We don’t want a scenario wherein with just a single switch, no electricity will be transmitted to our homes, businesses, even to our military facilities.”

Gatchalian strongly suggested that, “we should employ all possible safeguards to ensure Filipinos are in control of our lone power grid; that Filipino interests are being protected and national security concerns are covered 100 percent.”

The Philippine Constitution, he pointed out, specifically “requires the executive and managing officers of public utilities to be Filipinos.”

Gatchalian said among those called to testify before the Energy committee’s Monday inquiry are: the National Security Adviser, as well as top officials of the Department of Energy, NGCP, National Transmission Corp., as well as independent experts on electric power.