December 13, 2017
NATIONAL
Transmission Corp. (TransCo) has sought the services of the Land Registration
Authority (LRA) to secure legal title to all the real estate assets on which
transmission facilities from Luzon to Mindanao are built, its president said.
“All [real estate] that
we have expropriated, we will have them titled,” said Melvin A. Matibag,
TransCo president and chief executive officer, adding that a formal signing was
scheduled on Tuesday.
He said the move is
aimed at giving the TransCo a “complete set of proof” that it owns the
properties on which transmission lines, substations and towers are standing on,
including the improvements made by the National Grid Corporation of the
Philippines (NGCP).
TransCo is presenting
itself as a potential third player in the telecommunications industry, making
the right-of-way it has gained for transmission assets potentially valuable for
firms it may seek to partner with.
NGCP looks after
transmission assets spanning up 20,000 kilometers. In Mindanao alone, 7,000
transmission lines have been built, mostly towers, steel and wooden poles, and
other support structures. The government owns the assets, which the privately
owned company operates under a congressional franchise.
Mr. Matibag said the
survey to be made by LRA will determine the properties that have been
expropriated and paid for by the government, as well as those that remain to be
expropriated, for which TransCo will decide on how they will be paid.
Asked about the value
of the real estate, he said: “I’ve been hearing around P200 billion.”
He said no accurate
valuation is available as titling of all the properties has not been done since
grid operation was transferred to the private sector. He added that around
1,000 properties have been titled while at least 4,000 more need titling.
NGCP’s franchise stems
from Republic Act 9136 in 2001 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of
2001 (EPIRA), which paved the way for the sale of government energy assets.
The law separated the
various components of the sector, including power transmission, which was spun
off to state agency TransCo ahead of its turnover to the private sector through
concession.
Unlike in an outright
sale, the concession agreement allowed the government to keep ownership of the
transmission assets through TransCo. NGCP marked its official start of
operation as electricity transmission service provider in 2009.
Mr. Matibag said
TransCo has a yearly budget to justly compensate owners of land on which
transmission lines are built. He said the company’s utilization of these funds
has increased to 30% from 5% because more right-of-way disputes have been
settled, paid or closed in court. — Victor V. Saulon
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