Amid the perceived security threats posed by the Chinese ownership of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. gave the go signal to Senator Raffy Tulfo to look into the real situation in the country’s energy grid systems operator. (From left) President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Senator Raffy Tulfo (Photos from Sen. Tulfo's Facebook page) A statement by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) revealed that the Chief Executive has agreed with the senator during their meeting on Monday, May 15. “The President agreed that the senator should study it or to conduct hearings in order to know the real situation and if there is a need for the government to full control of the entity,” the PCO said. Tulfo told Marcos how he wanted to look into the situation in the NGCP. “First, Tulfo wanted to look at its performance of the NGCP. It is also being questioned by many senators,” the Palace said. “Secondly, Tulfo also wants to look into the security element of it, specifically if it's really controlled by the Chinese,” it added. The senator, who chairs the Senate Committee on Energy, filed Senate Resolution No. 609 to investigate the NGCP because of its possible security threat as it is 40 percent owned by the State Grid Corporation of China. He stated this concern amid the growing tension between the Philippines and China because of the resource-rich South China Sea. It also came after the Luzon grid was placed under red and yellow alerts, with several areas reporting power outages. Based on the senator’s intel report, China supposedly can remotely access the country’s national grid to sabotage it. Tulfo proposed to return the systems operations of the grid to the government entity National Transmission Corporation (TransCo), while leaving the maintenance to NGCP.