SENATOR Francis “Chiz” Escudero on Monday cautioned against the “renationalization” or reacquiring of properties formerly owned by the Philippine government, saying it might “discourage” foreign investors from doing business in the country.

“The renationalization of formerly-owned sold state assets is a policy that the national government should be very careful about or should be more circumspect about as it might send a wrong signal to existing and potential investors,” Escudero said.

When asked to specifically comment on the proposal of some of his colleagues in the Senate for the government to buy back the state’s 40% shares acquired by Chinese investors, the veteran legislator said he was not supporting it until the case has been thoroughly evaluated and studied.

“I don’t support it. Not until I read the fine print and subject it to a thorough study,” Escudero said.

He said, “(Policy) U-turns can be destabilizing and surely expensive.”

“How much would this buyback cost? Do we even have the money, given our huge debt? Are the current owners selling, or will this be a forced sale?

These are some of the questions that need answers,” he raised.

The senator questioned the capability of the state to run the NGCP (National Grid Corporation of the Philippines), which is now being blamed for the power outages in various parts of the country, noting that the government’s failure in the past led to the privatization of agency.

“Is there a formal finding from regulators that (it’s) NGCP’s fault other than mere finger-pointing? Does anyone honestly think that the government can run NGCP better than the private sector?” Escudero asked.

There should be an “expert determination” on the role of NGCP in “power outages and shortages,” Escudero said.

“Kung power generation ang problema, are we not applying the wrong solution? Baka naman instead of finding solutions, we’re looking for convenient scapegoats,” he said.

“‘Been there, done that’ na tayo diyan and the Napocor (National Power Corporation) and the NGCP, at that time, racked up hundreds of billions of pesos of debts which we are paying up to now,” he pointed out.

The NGCP is 40% percent owned by the State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC), a business entity owned by the Chinese Government, while the remaining 60% is owned by a group of Filipino businessmen led by tycoons Henry Sy Jr. and Robert Coyiuto Jr.

It started operations as a power transmission service provider in 2009 under a congressionally-granted 50-year franchise.