At least 43 new and ongoing projects for the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) have been awarded to Chinese companies, Senator Risa Hontiveros said Monday.

“NGCP has also awarded various procurement contracts to different Chinese firms,” Hontiveros said in a privilege speech pointing out that Chinese nationals are exercising leadership and management roles in the country’s power grid, amid concerns about foreign control of the country’s electric power system.

“Materials for the infrastructure of the transmission lines have been supplied by Chinese firms using Chinese designed technology. I am prepared to show you a list of Chinese corporations that won contracts with the NGCP. Makikita sa listahan na ito na 43 contracts have been awarded to Chinese corporations,” she said.

She said it led her to believe that there are indeed issues of proprietary access in NGCP.

“Ibig sabihin, mula ng pinalitan at inilagay ang software system called NARI ang mga sumunod na pangyayari ay nagbigay-daan na upang ang halos lahat, mula sa mga gamit at mismong mga tao dito, ay dapat ay compatible o akma sa inilagay na buong technology design inside the system control room which operates our nationwide transmission lines,” she said.

The senator belied the statement of NGCP that State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), which has 40% stake in the country’s grid, is merely a “technical adviser.”

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She said the operating manuals of the NARI control system is written in Mandarin, according to local control engineers and it needs information and communication technology for the remote and automatic monitoring of power facilities.

“‘Pag may aberya, mga Chinese na engineers lang diumano ang maaring mag trouble shoot. Ang kaalaman ng mga local engineers ay limitado lang sa pagpapagana ng equipment,” she said.

She further said the Chinese officials such as Liu Zhaoquiang, who serves as Assistant Chief Technical Officer for Operations and Maintenance “work in the nuts and bolts of the enterprise.”

She said another Chinese national, Wen Bo, sits as the Chief Technical Officer while the current chairperson of the NGCP is Zhu Guangchao of the State Grid Corporation of China.

She said with Chinese nationals at the helm, it is of little surprise that Filipino engineers are regularly sent to China to participate in training programs hosted by the State Grid Corporation of China.

“Ang chairman Chinese, halos lahat ng contractors Chinese, ang systems software made in China, at ang training sa China, pero dapat magtiwala at maniwala tayo na ito ay “Filipino-run”? It is my duty as a legislator to sound this alarm. It is our duty as the legislature to ensure that the interests of Filipinos are adequately protected,” she said.

Hontiveros earlier raised the national security concern on NGCP during the budget deliberations where National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) President and CEO Melvin Matibag said that China is capable of remotely shutting down the Philippines’ power transmission grid and that only an audit of the NGCP control centers could resolve the issue.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi earlier said the NGCP has prevented TransCo from conducting a security audit on the grid’s operating system. — BAP, GMA News