Sovereign move but only the beginning

Sovereign move but only the beginning | Daily Tribune

The Trump administration reasserting control over the Panama Canal should be an inspiration for us to adopt the same stance regarding critical sectors of the Philippine economy.

The Panama Canal is a vital artery for global trade reducing shipping times between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. It is estimated that it handles 40 percent of US container traffic annually and it is also a passageway for US navy ships.

The control of Panama Canal, which was built and funded by the Americans, has a significant strategic importance in terms of national security and economic interests for the US.

President Trump highlighted the risk of the Panama Canal “falling into the wrong hands.” Of course, he is talking about the increasing Chinese influence in Panama. The ports at both ends of the canal are now in the hands of Chinese companies.

The same argument can be had with our transmission grid. The transmission grid of the Philippines is a human body representing the arteries, and the system operation of the grid is the central nervous system.

The grid is the number one critical infrastructure owned by the Philippine government but it is in the hands of the State Grid of China. Why do I claim this? Because every key technology and infrastructure component of the transmission grid is Chinese.

NGCP has relied exclusively on a single vendor — the NARI Group Corporation, a direct affiliate of the State Grid of China — for its hardware and software, particularly in its Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Energy Management System (EMS).

NARI was established precisely to implement R&D and innovation projects for the State Grid of Corporation of China. Yet, when Atty. Paul Sagayo, president of Synergy Grid and a member of the NGCP Board, was asked if NARI is an affiliate of State Grid of China, he feigned ignorance and requested time to verify — despite the fact that this information is readily available on NARI’s own website.

NGCP spokespersons consistently downplay the extent of Chinese influence in the development of the transmission grid, even though the grid has become a homogenous system for Chinese technology. The Filipino partners have zero capability on grid technology.

That is why all contractors and vendors awarded contracts are all Chinese. Therein lies the danger, especially when the Filipino partners lack transparency and continue to shield their Chinese counterparts from scrutiny.

Dependence on one technology provider, especially from a nation with different strategic interests like China, introduces significant security vulnerabilities.

SCADA is partly data acquisition, so are we not worried how NARI stores and uses the data related to our country’s grid operations? What if the “bad actor” is not an external cyberthreat but an entity within the State Grid or the NARI Group? Curiously, we have no fallback of alternative systems in times of public peril and emergency.

Apart from national security issues, we must recognize the economic consequences of this arrangement. We should be wary that our economic development is tied up with the performance of the Chinese contractors.

NGCP maintains that it has the right to exclusively prepare the Transmission Development Plan. Yet, upon simple inquiry, their projects are mostly delayed. They exclusively make the plans and impose the completion dates of projects, yet most of their targets are not met — blaming everyone but themselves — the very planners and implementors of these projects.

Moreover, NGCP’s control over our transmission lines directly influences where power generation plants are established, thus can really shape the country’s power landscape.

The recent entry by the Maharlika Investment Corporation in NGCP is therefore a great move for re-assertion of our sovereignty. It marks a significant stride towards reasserting control over our most critical infrastructure. It is not merely a business decision, but a strategic one that reverses the trend of increasing Chinese influence in the Philippines.

From the inception of the Maharlika Fund, I’ve been vocal about its potential use to invest in NGCP. Apart from gaining a seat at the boardroom table, the fund can secure a stake in the economic benefits of what is essentially a monopoly.

Again, the MIC’s investment in NGCP is a victory for the Marcos Administration and for the Filipino. As I always say, I am not anti-China, I am pro-Filipino. We must protect Filipino interests over commercial claims. We must continue this path, ensuring that the nation’s critical sectors remain under Filipino control. We must be 100 percent committed to our sovereignty and protective of our right to self-determination.