{"id":239636,"date":"2019-12-09T19:57:53","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T00:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=239636"},"modified":"2019-12-09T19:57:53","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T00:57:53","slug":"hontiveros-exposes-security-risk-over-chinas-control-over-national-power-grid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/12\/09\/hontiveros-exposes-security-risk-over-chinas-control-over-national-power-grid\/","title":{"rendered":"Hontiveros exposes security risk over China’s control over national power grid"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hontiveros belied National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, Inc\u2019s [NGCP] claim that Chinese participation in its operations is limited to advisory roles. \u201cChinese nationals have been appointed to key and sensitive positions in the nation\u2019s power transmission service provider,\u201d the Akbayan Senator claimed. (File Photo<\/a>: Senator Risa Hontiveros\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>In a privilege speech on Monday, Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros revealed documents showing Chinese nationals exercising leadership and management roles in the country\u2019s power grid, amid concerns about foreign control of the country\u2019s electric power system.<\/p>\n

Hontiveros belied National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, Inc\u2019s [NGCP] claim that Chinese participation in its operations is limited to advisory roles. \u201cChinese nationals have been appointed to key and sensitive positions in the nation\u2019s power transmission service provider,\u201d the Akbayan Senator claimed.<\/p>\n

Documents presented to the Senate revealed that a Chinese national, Wen Bo, was named NGCP \u2018Chief Technical Officer\u2019, while a certain Liu Zhaoquiang was appointed \u2018Assistant Chief Technical Officer for Operations and Maintenance.\u2019 Another document showed Lui Zhaoquiang formally representing the NGCP in an event with the Bureau of Fire Protection.<\/p>\n

\u201cKasinungalingan ang pagsabing \u2018advisory role\u2019 lang ang Tsina. China is in charge of the nuts and bolts of our country\u2019s power grid, with full control of operations and maintenance,\u201d Hontiveros remarked.\u00a0\u00a0It was earlier revealed that NGCP\u2019s Chairperson is Chinese national Zhu Guangchao, State Grid Corporation of China\u2019s director-general.<\/p>\n

\u201cNGCP has also awarded various procurement contracts to different Chinese firms,\u201d Hontiveros furthered.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cNakakabahala kasi at least 43 projects under construction at new projects sa bansa para sa ating power grid ay nasa Tsina. Materials for the infrastructure of the transmission lines have been supplied by Chinese firms using Chinese designed technology,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cAng chairman Chinese, halos lahat ng contractors Chinese, ang systems software made in China, at ang training sa China. Saan dito ang Filipino-run?\u201d Hontiveros asked.<\/p>\n

The Senator also hit what she called an \u2018onerous concession agreement favoring big income to China and the NGCP.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe government is losing money while NGCP is raking in profits,\u201d she claimed referring to financial data showing that as of 2018, the corporation has achieved its return of investment (ROI) of PhP 180 billion due to profits from its transmission business alone with 15 more years left in the 25-year lifespan of the concession agreement with tax-exemption. \u201cPhP7.4 billion taon-taon ang nawawala sa gobyerno dahil sa tax exemption,\u201d she furthered.<\/p>\n

The senator from Akbayan also called for an immediate inspection and audit, including a cyberaudit, of NGCP facilities and a source code review of its systems software. \u201cKung walang tinatago, wala namang dapat ikatakot, \u2018di ba? This audit should be done immediately by government officials and independent experts, with a view towards looking at national security implications,\u201d Hontiveros urged.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe primary issue is national security. We need to assert our sovereignty. Bilyones ang kita ng NGCP, exposed pa ang pambansang seguridad. Para naman tayong ginigisa sa sariling mantika niyan,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a privilege speech on Monday, Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros revealed documents showing Chinese nationals exercising leadership and management roles …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":81740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-239636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-office-of-senator-risa-hontiveros"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239636"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":239637,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239636\/revisions\/239637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}