The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has denied failing to submit reports to energy regulators following the successive tripping of the Ilijan-Dasmariñas and Ilijan-Tayabas 500-kilovolt transmission lines, which caused red and yellow alerts in the Luzon and Visayas grids.
NGCP President's Statement
During a House hearing, NGCP President and CEO Anthony Almeda stated that they immediately sent SMS and email advisories to the Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission after the widespread brownouts on May 13. According to Almeda, they restored the operation of the two transmission lines within eight to 12 hours despite adverse weather and difficult terrain.
Investigation and Possible Sabotage
The investigation into the root cause of the problem is ongoing, and the possibility of sabotage has not been ruled out. The NGCP has also sought assistance from the Philippine National Police. Almeda emphasized that the transmission outage was not the sole cause of the grid alerts from May 13 to 15, as 31 power plants were already on forced shutdown or derated operations before the incident, and the highest power demand for 2026 was recorded during that period.
NGCP's Acknowledgment
Meanwhile, NGCP Public Relations Chief Cynthia Alabanza admitted that the NGCP bears responsibility for the red alerts but asserted that they submitted the required initial report to the regulators on time.
