MANILA, Philippines — Senator Raffy Tulfo proposed the revocation of the franchise of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), citing its “repeated failures” to stabilize the power system of the grid.
“Panahon na para mas mapabilis ang pagrerebisa at agarang pagtanggal ng prangkisa ng NGCP. Mahigit isang dekada at kalahati nang nagsasakripisyo ang taumbayan sa mga kapalpakan nila. Enough is enough!” Tulfo said in a statement on Friday.
(It’s time to expedite the revision and the revocation of the franchise of the NGCP. The people have been sacrificing for their mishaps for over a decade. Enough is enough!)
Tulfo, the chairperson of the Senate committee on energy, made the statement after a massive power outage in Panay Island which the NGCP attributed to the tripping of multiple power plants.
The senator added that this was the second time that an event of this scale happened, mentioning the Panay and Negros outage on April 2023, and may be grounds for the revocation of the corporation’s franchise.
The statement also mentioned that in a report by National Electrification Administration Administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda, power in Panay Island is expected to be restored by Friday midnight.
The Senate investigation on the alleged lapses of the NGCP is set for January 10.
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