‘Congress may review NGCP’s franchise’

MANILA, Philippines — The Joint Congressional Energy Commission might be convened to review and decide on the amendment or cancellation of the franchise of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) following the region-wide power outage in Western Visayas that caused billions of pesos in economic losses, Sen. Raffy Tulfo said over the weekend.

Tulfo, chairman of the Senate committee on energy, demanded solutions to ensure energy security and self-sufficiency when he presided over the last hearing of the committee on the power outage in Western Visayas.

“Instead of resorting to finger-pointing, just explain… what could have been done better? What changes should we make to prevent this from happening again? Our people deserve nothing less,” Tulfo said.

He said the failure of the NGCP to maintain the grid’s stability resulted in a massive power outage.

During the Senate hearing, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, Gov. Arthur Defensor and Guimaras Gov. Joaquin Nava said the blackouts affected critical establishments in their city and provinces.

They said that due to the lapses, their economy suffered losses amounting to billions of pesos.

Tulfo said the NGCP failed to inform concerned government agencies and its stakeholders about the blackouts as required under the regulations.

“Given the questionable competency of the NGCP as a grid operator, it is about time to cancel its franchise,” Tulfo said.

The NGCP has pointed to unscheduled power plant maintenance shutdowns that caused tripping and the blackout.