Solon raises concern over private sector control over NGCP
MANILA, Philippines — A House of Representatives panel probe on Wednesday revealed that the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) could cut off power in most parts of the Philippines, should it choose to.
The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) has a 40 percent stake in the NGCP, triggering national security concerns from both chambers of Congress. The NGCP is the country’s sole power grid operator.
Antipolo City 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop heads the House committee on transportation and asked NGCP officials if they could theoretically cut off energy for most parts of the country.
“If you want to cut off all the power by stopping all the transmission, then the way I understand it, then the country will not have any power,” Acop said during a House probe into the May 1 Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3 power outage.
Ryan Embradura, NGCP’s RCC Grid Dispatch Manager, said such is possible.
“Magti-trip din po yung mga planta kasi walang lalabas,” Embradura said, adding that the as the system operators, the agency could control the breakers.
(The plants will also trip because nothing is coming out.)
Acop then questioned why a private entity controls such a critical system.
“Yung power is very critical to our country. Karamihan diyan, ng ating aspeto ng ating buhay, nakakabit sa power, tama? Eh kung yung power na yun, nasa kontrol ng isang private agency, is that not dangerous to national security?” said Acop.
(Power is very critical to our country. For most of us, the aspects of our lives are connected to power, right? But if a private agency controls that power, is it not a threat to national security?)
In a previous hearing, Santa Rosa City, Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez speculated that the power outages resulted from the Chinese entities operating the NGCP.
“We are giving NGCP the power to construct, install, maintain, operate, and rehabilitate, along with all of the maintenance and operations of our grid. And who are the owners of the NGCP — 40 percent of the NGCP is owned by the Grid Corporation of China,” Fernandez said.
