Employees of the National Transmission Corporation expressed concern on their job security when a private firm takes over the operations and management of the transmission company.
Benjamin Ypil, TransCo-Visayas information officer, said that the employees are worried that they might lose their jobs once TransCo is privatized.
According to Ypil, the workers union will negotiate with the consortium that won the bidding to retain them even if they are under the new management.
“The concessionaire will be the one to decide who among the workers will be terminated and retained. But the union will push that all the present workers should be retained,” he said.
Ypil, who was the guest speaker during the forum of the Association of Government Information Officers, said that the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines, the consortium that won the 25-year concession to operate the power grid of TransCo, is presently applying to get a franchise from Congress.
He said that the privatization of TransCo has two advantages because it would make the delivery of services more efficient and unburden the national government of the capital.
According to Ypil, by letting the private company run the operating and maintenance of TransCo, the government can save a lot of money because it is spending around P26 billion a year for the transmission company.
The National Grid is 60 percent owned by Monte Oro Resources and Energy Inc. of the Philippines and 40 percent controlled by State Grid Corp. of China.
The National Grid has submitted the highest bid of $3.95 billion for the right to operate TransCo, besting the consortium of San Miguel Energy Corp., TPG Aurora BV of the Netherlands and TNB Prai Sdn Bhd of Malaysia, which offered $3.905 billion.
The law requires the operator of a public utility to first get a franchise from Congress before it can operate.
A franchise from Congress will prompt National Grid to pay 25 percent of its bid price, or about $1 billion, and the balance within 20 years.
Ypil said the consortium was given one year to secure a franchise so the workers are still in a “wait-and-see situation.”
“It will be less expensive if they retain the employees because if hire new ones, they will have to spend for the training,” he added. — Wenna A. Berondo/LPM