NGCP compound along Araneta Ave. Quezon City.
INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) on Thursday admitted that a Chinese national previously held a technical executive position in the company, with a lawmaker raising concern on its constitutional implications.
During the hearing of the committee on legislative franchise of the House of Representatives, Marikina City 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo asked NGCP Officer-in-Charge Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Rico Vega when he assumed the position and why he could not be designated as the permanent CTO.
READ: Solons assured: NGCP run by Filipinos, compliant with Constitution
Vega answered that he held the position after a previous Filipino OIC-CTO retired from the post in April 2021. NGCP President and CEO Anthony Almeda then said that Vega will have to undergo an HR process.
Quimbo then asked Almeda if he could confirm that a certain Wen Bo, a Chinese national, previously held the CTO role, based on the findings of previous hearings.
鈥淵es, he was our Chief Technical before,鈥� Almeda answered.
Quimbo raised a concern, saying that the 1987 Constitution mandates that executive roles in a public utility should be 100 percent held by Filipinos, in accordance with the Section 11, Article 12 of the Constitution.
NGCP, the country鈥檚 lone state-owned power grid, is 40 percent owned by the State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC), a government-owned enterprise of the Chinese Communist Party, while its 60 percent is owned by Filipino investors, including Henry Sy Jr. and Robert Coyiuto Jr.
NGCP Assistant Corporate Secretary Ronald Dylan Concepcion then said that Bo was given necessary permits by different agencies such as the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Energy (DOE).
鈥淲en Bo is no longer with NGCP. It鈥檚 true that for a period of time, he was the chief technical officer but he was allowed and given the proper permits by the DOJ鈥� We even go through the DOE to ask endorsement for his visa and permit, 鈥� Concepcion said.
When asked about when Bo stopped assuming office, Concepcion said that he thinks that 鈥渋t was around 2017.鈥�
READ: NGCP quizzed over Chinese ties; solon says firm complied with rules
In the same hearing, Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said that the corporation said that a hearing was not necessary as the corporation was compliant with its tax responsibilities. However, Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said that there was a need to do so, raising concerns on who controls the organization.
Henry Sy Jr., vice chairperson of the NGCP, through Almeda said that the 鈥淣GCP is a Filipino corporation, and we run the company as Filipinos.鈥�
Sy, through Almeda, added that the SGCC 鈥渄oes not control over the power grid nor over NGCP.鈥�