New heads of Napocor, Transco assume posts today

The new heads of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) and the National Transmission Corp. (Transco) will assume office today.

In mid-December last year, Malacañang approved the appointment of Alan Ortiz, a former consultant of Sen. Sergio Osmeña, and Roger Murga, a concurrent president of EEI Corp.

Ortiz, in an interview with reporters over the weekend, said he has three priorities: The passage of the Transco bill which is still pending in Congress; pushing through with the privatization process of Transco; and the corporate transformation of Transco.

"We are targeting to operate officially as a government-owned controlled corporation (GOCC) and an entirely separate entity from Napocor before the end of this month," Ortiz said.

The incoming Napocor president, Rogelio Murga, on the other hand, is faced with a crucial task of steering a corporation in the middle of an unprecedented restructuring process.

Murga met with the Napocor’s management committee last Friday to determine the real status of the state-run power firm particularly the fate of its employees under a newly-restructured power industry.

Murga was briefed on the status of the termination and re-hiring process which might be extended to Feb. 15 pending the resolution of the critical issues by the Napocor board of directors.

It was learned that the Board is set to meet by the middle of the month to choose the respective functional heads and clarify whether the 4,403 positions will all be filled up.