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Brix Lelis - The Philippine Star
March 5, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — State-run Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC) has identified potential candidates for appointment to the board of the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), according to a top executive.
Asked by The STAR if MIC had candidates in mind to fill the two NGCP board seats allocated to the government, MIC president and CEO Rafael Consing Jr. said, “Yes, we do.”
“MIC has 90 days from the signing of the binding term sheet to close the investment,” Consing said, noting that the appointees will be announced “in due course.”
MIC has secured a foothold in the country’s power grid after tycoons Henry Sy Jr. and Robert Coyiuto Jr. agreed to sell 20 percent of Synergy Grid and Development Philippines Inc. (SGP), the listed company behind NGCP.
The deal, subject to closing conditions, grants the country’s sovereign wealth fund manager four board seats – two each in SGP and NGCP.
A source privy to the matter told The STAR that one of the appointees to the NGCP board is a University of the Philippines graduate who previously worked in the government.
The identity of the appointee has been kept under wraps, pending the completion of the deal, the source said.
Following the signing of the P19.7-billion deal in January, speculation mounted that one of the NGCP board seats would go to Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla.
The Department of Energy, however, quickly dismissed the speculation, noting that Cabinet officials, along with their deputies and assistants, are prohibited from being appointed to private companies.
Currently, the NGCP board is chaired by Zhu Guangchao (Chinese), with Sy and Coyiuto both serving as vice chairmen. Its members include Jose Pardo, Francis Chua, Yao Yousheng (Chinese), Wang Lijin (Chinese), Anthony Almeda, Liu Xinhua (Chinese) and Paul Sagayo Jr.
The Chinese directors were elected based on the 40-percent stake of State Grid Corp. of China in the country’s transmission operator.
With MIC’s entry into the NGCP, the board of directors is set to expand from 10 to 15 members.
Earlier, Lotilla said MIC’s investment would allow “greater transparency” in the NGCP amid concerns regarding the influence of Beijing in the operation of the country’s power grid.
“As NGCP is stating that there is nothing to fear from the presence (of Chinese in the board), then we will be in a better position to confirm or affirm that,” Lotilla said.
In a previous interview, Consing said that MIC is open to acquiring the NGCP stake currently held by SGCC “if it becomes available.”
But he clarified that no formal discussions have been initiated.
Last month, the NGCP scored a decisive victory in its Singapore arbitration case against Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. and National Transmission Corp.
The Singapore International Arbitration Center’s Arbitral Tribunal rejected the state-run firms’ allegations that the grid operator had violated the nationality restrictions applicable to public utilities under Philippine laws, including the Anti-Dummy Law.
Under Philippine laws, foreign ownership of a public utility is limited to 40 percent.
“That’s a vindication that we are following the laws passed and the contract that the government filed when they privatized the transmission and NGCP was granted the concession,” NGCP spokesperson Cynthia Alabanza said last week.
A privately owned corporation, the NGCP holds a 25-year concession contract and a 50-year franchise to operate the country’s power transmission network.
