President Rodrigo Duterte instructed the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to ensure that there will be no additional brownouts this year, presidential spokesman Sec. Harry Roque said on Monday.
Duterte, according to Roque, emphasized the point during his meeting with NGCP officials last week.
However, the palace spokesman pointed out that NGCP, which operates the country’s state-owned power grid, had told the President that it has no control over power supply issues leading to the recent Red Alerts and rotating brownouts in Luzon.
The Department of Energy attributed the rotating brownouts last month due to what it says is unauthorized maintenance work in some power plants in Luzon, which led to insufficient power supply in the area.
Roque also said that NGCP likewise explained that it has the legal basis to purchase power, but only to stabilize the grid, and not to provide further supply.
The presidential spokesman added that Duterte raised in the meeting NGCP’s expropriation of the Social Security System’s six-hectare property in Pasay City, but the grid firm couldn’t justify the reason for its expropriation of all six hectares when all it needed was 2,000 square meters.
Nonetheless, NGCP assured the President that it will not proceed with the expropriation.
