NGCP president clarifies Filipino majority shareholding

NGCP President Anthony Almeda addressed lawmakers during a House Committee on Legislative Franchises hearing, clarifying that NGCP is a Filipino company with 60% of its shares held by domestic corporations and 40% by State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC).

Vice Chairman Henry Sy Jr., who was unable to attend the hearing due to an engagement, had his speech delivered by Almeda, emphasizing that NGCP operates in good faith under Philippine law and through a public bidding process.

Sy reiterated that Filipino employees manage day-to-day operations of the power grid, dismissing claims about a 'single button' to shut down the country's power grid and highlighting the security measures in place for the SCADA system.

NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza stated the company is open to a national security review as authorized by the Public Services Act of 2022, which liberalized foreign ownership in select domestic industries.

Sy urged the Department of Energy to address power interruptions comprehensively, highlighting that supply issues caused 97% of outages from 2016 to 2023.