MANILA, Philippines — Henry Sy Jr., vice chairperson of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP)winhq, assured the House of Representatives that the company is run by Filipino employees and officials.

During Thursday’s hearing of the House committee on legislative franchises, Sy, through NGCP president Anthony Almeda, stated that they purchased the transmission business in good faith and through an open public bidding.

Almeda delivered Sy’s speech, as the vice chairperson was unable to attend the discussions due to a longer-than-expected engagement.

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“NGCP is a Filipino corporation, and we run the company as Filipinos.  We bought the transmission business from the government in 2007 in an open public bidding at the cost of almost US$4 billion.  We did this in good faith and in accordance with the Epira (Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001) law passed by Congress.  This was not a negotiated bill but was a solicited contract subjected to public bidding,” Almeda said.

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“We follow the law, we follow the contract you gave us to sign, we follow the regulator.  As the operator of the transmission system of the country, we are a partner of the government in the energy sector.  We have undertaken to pay PSALM (Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management) $US3.95 billion as concession fee,” he added.

Furthermore, Sy allayed fears that the State Grid Corporation of China has any control over the Philippine power grid or NGCP.

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“The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) does not exercise control over the power grid nor over NGCP.  Domestic corporations Monte Oro Grid Resources Corporation and Calaca High Power Corporation each hold thirty percent or a total of sixty percent of the outstanding capital stock of NGCP,” Sy said through Almeda.

CEO Patrick Pouyanne has a raft of ambitious projects aimed at propelling growth through the decade, not least a $10 billion offshore investment in Suriname that received a green light Tuesday.

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“Whereas SGCC only holds a minority share of forty percent (40%).  SGCC’s shareholding in NGCP is consistent with the Constitution, moreover, during the bidding of the concession agreement, the government required the participation of financially and technically capable participants,” he added.

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Sy then reiterated NGCP’s earlier claims that Chinese nationals cannot simply shut down the country’s grid, as Filipino directors and personnel are in control of system operations.

Also, the NGCP’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system prevents hacking from outside NGCP’s facilities.

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“The Chinese do not have control over the grid.  There is no proverbial single red button that can instantly turn off the grid.  There are protocols that actually prevent this,” Sy said.

“Our SCADA system is a secure stand-alone, isolated system that is not connected to any other network, it is not connected to the internet, and it cannot be remotely hacked.  It is NGCP alone, through its Filipino directors and personnel, and not the Chinese, which has the control over the system operations,” he added.

NGCP has faced repeated scrutiny over its ties to Chinese companies, with some lawmakers raising security concerns. However, NGCP insists it is a Filipino firm, with Assistant Vice President for System Operations Clark Agustin explaining that China is a technical partner allowed by the government.

READ: NGCP official assures Filipino-led firm, no switch to shut grid off

Sy, meanwhile, urged the Department of Energy (DOE) to investigate the issues, saying that he believes power interruptions from 2016 to 2023 were due to supply problems

“I strongly urge our DOE to look at the problem as a whole.  The data is clear, 97 percent of the power interruptions from 2016 to 2023 was caused by problems in supply,” he said.

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“We need stable, affordable baseload power.  We need a comprehensivewinhq, aligned plan that considers the needs of all sectors.  We are willing to be part of the solution, but transmission should not be the solution to everyone’s problems,” he added.

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