Water Industry

Fragmentation issues affect wastewater management in PH

The country’s wastewater management faces institutional and implementation fragmentation

issues, according to a recent study by state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies
(PIDS).

According to PIDS Senior Research Fellow Sonny Domingo and PIDS Research Specialist Arvie Joy
Manejar, while government agencies have been given mandates in water supply, quality, servicing,
and wastewater, “overarching framework and direction were absent.”

The authors noted that the Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 designated the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources as the oversight agency for implementing water quality
guidelines, effluent standards, and environmental regulatory compliance. However, it “did not
consolidate mandates of institutions across specific aspects on sanitation”.

Moreover, the “lack of national guidance” contributed to the fragmentation in the sector,
particularly the absence of a national plan and roadmap.

The study also raised the concern about unfeasible regulatory standards imposed by the government
on concessionaires and implementers, noting that they are unable to comply “given the state of
facilities, the amount of investment needed, and the limited technology options”.

The lack of regulatory offices also poses a problem. For instance, the National Water Resources
Board, which manages the water quality management areas and watersheds, has no regional offices
and thus, “has no capacity to go after polluters of primary water sources”.

To harmonize the country’s fragmented approach to water and wastewater management, the
authors said the Philippines could learn from its neighboring countries. In Singapore, its Public
Utilities Board handles the oversight and integrates the management of the country’s water supply,
research and development, and collaborations with domestic and international experts.

Finally, the authors suggested ramping up investments in the water sector. Current proposed
investments amount to PHP 1.07 trillion for physical requirements and PHP 1.13 billion for
nonphysical needs.

Source: https://www.pids.gov.ph/details/news/press-releases/fragmentation-issues-affect-
wastewater-management-in-ph-pids-study

Power Industry

China can shut off the Philippines' power grid at any time, leaked report warns

(CNN)The Philippines' power grid is under the full control of the Chinese government and could be
shut off in time of conflict, according to an internal report prepared for lawmakers seen by CNN.
China's State Grid Corporation has a 40% stake in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines
(NGCP), a private consortium that has operated the country's power lines since 2009. Concerns over
potential Chinese interference in the Philippine energy system have dogged the arrangement since it
was first agreed a decade ago.

Lawmakers called for an urgent review of the arrangement this month after the report claimed that
only Chinese engineers had access to key elements of the system, and that power could in theory be
deactivated remotely on Beijing's orders.

'With a single switch'

Concerns over the power grid arrangement were raised by senators during a debate over the 2020
energy budget this month. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, representing the government, said that
electricity could potentially be shut off remotely, or by foreign actors.

"I was advised by the president of TransCo that they have studied this type of possibility. I was
advised that manual operation of transmission lines is possible. A takeover can happen, but TransCo,
with their technical capability, can then manually take over," Gatchalian said Tuesday, without
referencing China explicitly.

"With a single switch, no electricity would be transmitted to any of our homes, our businesses, (or)
any of our military facilities," said Gatchalian, who is chair of the Senate Energy Committee. In such
an instance, it would take between 24 and 48 hours to get the grid back up and running, he added.

Chinese controlled

The NGCP handles the distribution of electricity across the Philippines, linking power plants and
consumers throughout the country, supplying almost 78% of households in the country of over 105
million, according to the internal report.

It was privatized in 2009, with China's state Grid Corporation taking a major stake, as well as
providing staff to help run the systems in the Philippines.

According to the report provided to CNN, the technology upon which the grid is based has
increasingly been switched over to Huawei products, which the report claims are "completely
proprietary" and can only be operated by Chinese engineers. During the Senate debate, Gatchalian
acknowledged that Chinese engineers had control over certain systems and that some manuals were
only provided in Chinese, against regulations.

Other systems within the Philippine national grid were also provided and largely operated by
Chinese companies, the internal report said, including submarine cables linking power stations
across islands, and key control apparatus, some of which are operated by engineers in China over
the internet.

It described the system as "operated by foreign nationals (Chinese) at critical access levels," adding
that "critical system operations are all under the control of foreign nationals -- locally and offshore."
The report urged lawmakers to return control and oversight of the key power systems to the
Philippine government.

Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/11/25/asia/philippines-china-
power-grid-intl-hnk/index.html

Telecommunication Industry

The ABS-CBN Shutdown Controversy

The Philippines at the moment is not only confronted by the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic,
rather it is also faced with a huge controversy surrounding one of the most influential media
networks in the country, ABS-CBN or popularly known as the “Kapamilya” (Family) Network.

The reason for the whole controversy is due to the expiration of its congressional franchise on 4
May, 2020 followed by a “cease and desist” order (CDO) issued by the National Telecommunications
Commission (NTC) on 5 May, 2020. Stunned and taken by surprise, Filipinos living in and out of the
country have taken to social media to express their views on the matter. The atmosphere on social
media platforms like Facebook and Twitter can be likened to a war zone. Netizens are divided and at
odds with each other with some defending ABS-CBN and others who want the network to be shut
down.

While there are many who want ABS-CBN to continue its broadcasts and remain in operations, there
are also those who would like to see the network shut down because of the many alleged violations
committed by it. The alleged transgressions of ABS-CBN are revealed and depicted in the “quo-
warranto” case filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida Jr against the said corporation on 10 January,
2020. Calida Jr was quoted as saying in an interview that “we want to put an end to what we
discovered to be highly abusive practices of ABS-CBN benefitting a greedy few at the expense of
millions of its loyal subscribers. These practices have gone unnoticed or were disregarded for years.”

The alleged violations of ABS-CBN include among others: (1) bias news reporting; (2) labour-related
contraventions and breaches; (3) broadcasting for a fee and operating a "pay-per-view channel in
ABS-CBN TV Plus, the KBO Channel, without prior approval or permit from the NTC; (4) failing to
publicly offer any of its outstanding capital stock to any securities exchange within the Philippines
within five years from the start of its operations, which is an indispensable condition in its franchise;
(5) issuance of Philippine Depository Receipts (PDRs) to foreigners; and (6) the scepticism and
qualms orbiting around the citizenship of the media network’s chairman emeritus Eugenio Gabriel
"Gabby" López III, who is also the director and treasurer of the Lopez Holding Corporation, an
alleged American. The network claims he has dual-citizenship – American and Filipino.

Under Philippine laws, any broadcasting network needs a congressional franchise to run television
and radio stations for 25 years renewable for another 25 years. A congressional franchise is a law
thus it has to go through the standard law-making process as any other bill before it can be enacted
into law. Once passed in Congress, it goes to the president for signing. A franchise bill is a private bill.
In as much as the granting of franchises is a discretionary power of Congress, it is also a political
power that only Congress can exercise. Thus, franchise hopefuls can’t force or demand Congress to
grant them a franchise if it doesn’t want to, precisely because a franchise is not a demandable right
rather it is a privilege.
Similarly, the power to implement and execute laws is the domain of the executive branch of
government. The NTC is part and parcel of the executive branch. It is not fitting for Congress to
pressure the NTC to issue a PA to ABS-CBN without a franchise. It does not have the power as well to
place the NTC in contempt because that is a violation of the principles of the separation of powers of
the three branches of government. The NTC just did its job – nothing more and nothing less.

Conversely, failing to acquire or renew a franchise, is tantamount to stop operations, and that’s what
happened to ABS-CBN. Retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno said, “we were unanimous
in holding that there is a need for a franchise before the NTC can grant a provisional permit. Without
a franchise, the television station concerned has to cease operation.”

ABS-CBN failed to renew its franchise for the last six years or so. Its franchise application has been
pending in Congress since 2014. It’s a wonder why it was not able to renew its franchise until the
very last minute. Furthermore, this issue has nothing to do with press freedom rather it has to do
with the “rule of law and democratic accountability”.

It’s quite an exaggeration to say that press freedom in the county has been pilloried just because a
giant media outlet has been closed due to an expired franchise. To say that issues related to the
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will not be covered extensively just because ABS-CBN was shut down is
an insult to the many journalists, broadcasters, and media practitioners from other media outlets
who are equally capable of delivering news and information extensively about COVID-19 or other
issues.

ABS-CBN broadcasts have not actually stopped. They are still broadcasting daily through live
streaming via different social media platforms, cable TV, etc., starting a day after the CDO from the
NTC was issued. The only thing that was stopped was the use of the government loaned broadcast
frequency (Free TV) – not ABS-CBN’s operations, ability, and capacity to broadcast. That’s the truth
of the matter

Source: https://theaseanpost.com/article/abs-cbn-shutdown-controversy-0?amp