Senator Imee Marcos on Tuesday questioned the proposal to invest the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), saying regulatory measures are in place under the law to address the company’s supposed underperformance.
“Why should the MIC (Maharlika Investment Corporation) spend money to improve the performance of the NGCP when it is regulated by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC)? Why should we use public funds when regulatory measures are available?” Marcos said in a statement, citing provisions of Republic Act 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act.
For Marcos, the problem of NGCP “is not lack of cash but lack of performance.”
She said the grid operators’ income of P307 billion in the past 14 years, of which, P239 billion or more than 77% has been distributed to its shareholders.
Marcos, who called for a Senate investigation into the massive blackout in Panay Island, reiterated the “alarming lack of improvement” in NGCP’s transmission capacity which has caused “automatic load-dropping incidents and grid-level outages, inadequate procurement of ancillary services to prevent outages, and delays in the completion of grid projects lasting as long as seven years.”
“We could have avoided the recent power outage in Panay if the Cebu-Negros-Panay Backbone Project and the Visayas-Mindanao Interconnection Project were finished on schedule. Now, billions have been spent with no ROI (return on investment) in sight,” she said.
She then suggested that the government exclude unfinished projects in the computation of NGCP’s rates instead of investing in the privately owned grid operators.
This, she said, will incentivize the NGCP to finish projects before recouping costs.
Marcos also proposed the inclusion of local government leagues in the Energy Investment Coordinating Council to help simplify the process of obtaining permits, which was the cited reason for the delays in NGCP’s interconnection projects. The council was created through former President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order No. 30.
While she raised this suggestion, Marcos insisted that there should be penalties for NGCP’s delayed projects.
The idea of MIC investing in NGCP was first floated by Speaker Martin Romualdez and was supported by Maharlika Investment Corporation president Rafael Consing Jr.
The proposal came after Panay Island was hit by a massive power outage last week due to multiple trippings of power plants in the area.
Romualdez said MIC’s “strategic investment could provide essential capital for infrastructure upgrades and help in lowering the cost of electricity for consumers.”
Consing, in supporting Romualdez’s idea, said that “investing in NGCP through Maharlika is about investing in the Philippines’ future. It will be a bold step towards securing our energy independence, fueling economic prosperity, and ensuring a brighter tomorrow for every Filipino.”
However, Consing said the decision to invest still requires careful consideration and thorough due diligence.
The MIC conducted its first board meeting on Jan. 3 where it discussed the MIF capitalization and potential sectors for investment.
During the meeting, the state-owned firm’s Board of Directors approved the company’s capitalization scheme amounting to P125 billion, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).
MIC is the government-owned firm tasked to mobilize the country’s first sovereign wealth fund. — VDV, GMA Integrated News
