MANILA, Philippines — Officials of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) will have to explain to senators why it supposedly failed to submit its operations to a mandatory government audit amid national security concerns.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate energy committee, said this as he warned the NGCP anew that it could have its franchise revoked if it refuses to allow the Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct an audit of its operations.
In a previous hearing early February, Gatchalian initially gave the NGCP until February 10 to comply with the order to subject its operations to a mandatory audit amid concerns fears that China could remotely access the country’s power grid.
The deadline had been extended until February 17 prior to NGCP’s request for an extension.
During the same hearing, senators expressed alarm when NGCP President and CEO Anthony Almeda admitted to numerous cyber attacks but did not report such incidents to proper authorities.
READ: NGCP head bares cyber attacks on power grid, irks lawmakers
“With just a single attack, we should already be panicking. Hindi na dapat yan umabot ng maraming attacks (It should not escalate),” Gatchalian said in a statement on Sunday.
“Nagulat ako (I was surprised). We were merely contemplating on how to deal about future cyber attacks, yun pala nangyayari na pala sa atin (it turns out it’s happening to us). Kaya kung hindi sila papayag na pumasok ang DOE, itutuloy namin ang aming recommendation na i-revoke ang franchise nila (If the NGCP won’t let DOE in, we will push through with our recommendation to have its franchise revoked),” he added.
Energy officials and National Transmission Corporation (TransCo) representatives disclosed during the hearing that NGCP officials have refused to be audited several times.
There had been mounting fears that NGCP is being controlled and operated by China through the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) which has a 40% stake in the company, Gatchalian noted.
But NGCP had assured senators that there is “no proverbial red button” that could shut off the country’s power grid and that there are existing protocols to prevent “unsupervised remote access” to it.
READ: No ‘red button’ to shut off PH grid, NGCP chief tells Senate
The Senate committee also found out that a certain Wen Bo had signed contracts as chief technical officer of the NGCP.
READ: NGCP violated Constitution for allowing Chinese to hold high position – senators
Senators said this was a clear violation of the Constitution citing Section 11, Article 12 of the 1987 Constitution which states that “all executive and managing officers of any corporation or association must be citizens of the Philippines.”
But the NGCP denied that there are foreigners, particularly Chinese, among its top executives and managers.
READ: NGCP: No Chinese among its top executives, managers
Gatchalian said his committee will further scrutinize NGCP’s concession agreements, its franchise, and its performance during the next hearing scheduled on Tuesday (March 10).