Fernandez wants Transco to regain nationwide transmission system ops

MANILA, Philippines — Rep. Dan Fernandez wants the state-run National Transmission Corporation (Transco) to regain its power in terms of the management and operation of its nationwide transmission system.

Fernandez said his appeal was borne out of the glaring lapses of the privately-owned National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) which is presently tasked to operate, maintain, and develop the country’s state-owned power grid.

“Marami silang mga ginagawa na hindi naaayon doon sa batas na ginawa para sila ay magkaroon ng prangkisa. Ano lang po yan e, pwede natin bawiin,” Fernandez said over Radyo 630 on Thursday.

(They do a lot of things that are not following the law that was made for them to have a franchise. But to note, we can take it back.)

In the same interview, Fernandez was asked if he wanted NGCP’s franchise to be scrapped, to which he answered that he wanted the power back to the government-owned Transco.

“Ako, dapat yan maibalik na sa gobyerno yan eh, sa Transco. Alam mo sa totoo lang, yung Transco bago ‘yang concession agreement [ay] kumikita na po tayo ng almost P9.8 billion. Kung ipinagpatuloy ng Transco yung kinikita nila — kasi nagsimula sila noong 2009 matatapos sila sa 2034 – kung pagbabasehan natin yung P9.8 billion na kinikita ng Transco, sa loob ng 25 taon [ay] kikita na tayo ng almost P116 billion,” he explained.

(For me, that should be returned to the government, to Transco. You know the truth, the Transco before the concession agreement [was] earning almost P9.8 billion. If Transco continued their earnings – because they started in 2009 they will end in 2034 – if we base the P9.8 billion that Transco is earning, in 25 years [we will] earn almost P116 billion.)

According to Fernandez, if one has to compute government earnings from what the NGCP is paying through the concession agreement, it would show that the Philippines is only gaining almost P17 billion.

“Ang laki ng difference,” he lamented. (That’s a huge difference.)

“Pagdating naman po sa taxes, hindi sila nagbabayad ng corporate income tax. Ang binabayad lang po nila ay 3 percent na franchise tax, doon pa lang luging lugi na ang gobyerno. Kaya dapat na po talaga atin na pong suriing mabuti — ano ba talaga ang idinulot nito sa atin?” Fernandez proceeded to ask.

(When it comes to taxes, they don’t pay corporate income tax. All they are paying is a 3 percent franchise tax, and the government is losing money on that alone. So we should really take a closer look — what did it really do to us?)

The Santa Rosa City Representative then emphasized that the country continues to suffer from outages and automatic load dropping, which shouldn’t be happening considering the presence of NGCP.

“Kaya nga po tayo kumuha ng isang concessionaire eh — private, kasi sinasabi nila mas malaki ang ginagastos natin sa gobyerno. E dapat lamang, kaya nga namin kayo kinuha para mas maging maganda ang serbisyo niyo. Ang problema, ginigisa nila tayo sa sarili nating mantika — sinisingil muna tayo ng pera bago sila magpagawa ng proyekto,” he said.

(That’s why we hired a private concessionaire because they say we spend more on the government. It should be, that’s why we hired you to make your service better. The problem is, they fry us in our own oil — they charge us money before they do the project.)

The House of Representatives’ committee on legislative franchises, chaired by Parañaque City Rep. Gustavo Tambunting, signified on Monday its intent to look into the compliance of the NGCP with its franchise terms following allegations of its lapses and unjust practices that burden consumers.

Among the issues raised during the Dec. 23 hearing was NGCP’s “non-payment of tax.” Apart from this, Fernandez — in the same hearing — likewise sounded the alarm over China Grid Corporation’s supposed role in NGCP.

“What I’m trying to say [and] imply here, meron ding implication sa national security ito. Kasi nga, yung binebenta nila non-voting preferred, binili nila sa NGCP ang 20 percent, ang breakdown nyan ay 40 percent owned by China Grid Corporation and 60 percent owned by Filipinos. Binenta mo ngayon ang 20 percent sa Filipinos pero preferred lang siya, hindi siya common share so mawawalan ng voting powers ang Filipinos,” Fernandez said then,

(What I’m trying to say [and] imply here, this also has implications for national security. Because what they sold is non-voting preferred. They bought 20 percent from NGCP, the breakdown of which is 40 percent is owned by China Grid Corporation and 60 percent owned by Filipinos. You now sold 20 percent to the Filipinos but it is only preferred, it is not a common share so the Filipinos will lose their voting powers.)

According to him, this “backdoor that they have done may contain national security content,” urging Filipinos to be very wary about it.