Transmission and system operator National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) reiterated Wednesday that the presence of Chinese shareholders in its board is not a threat to national security.
NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Perez-Alabanza said the board “is not the one sitting and dispatching” power supply.
Alabanza said NGCP’s head of system operation Clark Agustin confirmed that there is no single button that can switch off the country’s power supply.
‘It cannot be done because the system is isolated. Second, the dispatcher sitting is all Filipino…I can say that there is no such threat within NGCP,” Alabanza said.
“They have access to publicly available info so what you see, they see too. But in terms of being able to assert control over the transmission system of the Ph under NGCP, there is none,” she said.
NGCP holds the 25-year concession contract and the 50-year franchise to operate the power transmission network. It is comprised of Monte Oro Grid Resources Corp. led by Henry Sy Jr., Calaca High Power Corp. led by Robert Coyiuto Jr. (60 percent) and the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) as technical partner holding a 40-percent stake.
Other members of the board are Jose Pardo, Francis Chua, Anthony Almeida, Paul Sagayo Jr., Zhu Guangchao, Yao Yousheng, Wang Lijin and Liu Xinhua. Guangchao is the chairman of the board while Sy and Coyiuto are vice chairmen.
“There are six Filipinos and four foreign board directors that agree with their proportionate share of the investment. Is the chairman of the board more important? Is his vote heavier than the others? No. In fact, he only needs to be the presiding officer. So on the board, even if the chairman is a foreigner, it’s still a numbers game, meaning when voting on the decision, the one with the most wins,” Alabanza said.
“The representative of the NGCP also confirms that the role of the chairman on the NGCP board is within the bounds of law because he is just the presiding officer,” she said.
She said all NGCP actions are in accordance with its concession agreement with the government and the Republic Act 9511, Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (R.A. 9316) and other applicable laws and regulations.
NGCP said last year fears of Chinese shareholder takeover in its board was “speculative” and “without basis.”
It said the Constitution allows foreign ownership of up to 40 percent of the capital stock of a corporation operating a public utility such as NGCP.
“SGCC’s stake cannot and does not amount to control of the company because Filipinos own 60 percent of NGCP,” it said.
The company said the government has always been aware about SGCC’s participation in NGCP.
“State Grid participated in the privatization of Transco as the foreign technical partner of the consortium that won the concession. The concession was awarded at the fourth round of an open and competitive public bidding initiated by the government. This winning consortium eventually formed NGCP,” it said.
NGCP said the EPIRA requires the transmission concessionaire to have experience and expertise in the transmission business.
“The requirement for foreign expertise also explains why NGCP employed foreign technical experts in the past. The objective was to ensure the transfer of technical knowledge to our Filipino experts. And this objective was achieved. The only foreign nationals still with NGCP are the four Chinese directors who sit on our 10-person board,” the company said.