Does Sen. Poe stance on 3rd Telco offends Duterte?

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

DAGUPAN CITY - Would the pronouncement of a lady senator against the act of President Rodrigo Duterte offends the latter?

Senator Grace Poe told recently this writer that Duterte could not just sign an executive order through the Foreign Investment Negative List (FINL) allowing a third player in the telecommunication industry controlled by Philippines Long Distance Telephone/Smart and Globe Telecom.

Senator Grace Poe (above) and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Ganito ‘yan, kasi sa batas natin may nagsasabi ‘pag ang telco, hindi puwedeng foreign owned ‘yan; so kailangan maipasa sa Senado, so ‘yun ‘yung aming itutulak. Ngayon, maganda ‘yung ibang mga korporasyon o industriya ay magkaroon ng kumpetensiya. So kung may foreign owners na magbibigay ng mas magandang serbisyo, bakit hindi ‘di ba? Pero nasa batas na kailangan muna naming ma-amyendahan,” she stressed.

The duopoly of these corporations punished the Filipinos for their poor services especially the internet connection considered one of the slowest and probably expensive in Far East Asia.

“Kasi nasa Konstitusyon natin, na ito’y isang public service kaya nga tinutulak ko ‘yung Public Services Act sa Senado na maipasa para nga magkaroon tayo ng mas maraming kumpetisyon…,” she explained.

The old Commonwealth Act No. 146 or known as Public Service Acts restricts the ownership of public utilities. It is the reason that discourages foreign investors to come to our country and instead go to Thailand, Singapore, China, and Vietnam where they can own up to 100% of the capital and the control of the board of directors.

The lengthy coverage of the public utilities in Acts No. 146 have been significantly reduced and replaced last September 8, 2017 by House Bill 5828 led by then Congresswoman Gloria M. Arroyo limiting its coverage with the clause “person that operates, manages, and controls the distribution and transmission of electricity, and water pipeline distribution system or sewerage pipeline system for public purpose” where Filipinos could still continue to control 60% of the corporation.

Five bills have been filed last year in the Senate which also seek to amend the Public Service Act.

Poe is the chairwoman of the Committee on Public Service in the upper house that oversees these bills.

She had called a hearing today, October 22, about the pronouncement of National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director-General Ernesto Pernia about the impending signature of President Duterte for the third Telco.

Moreover, she did not agree, on my interview with her, that foreign investors owned land in the country. She said it should be exclusive to Filipinos.

This paper and other political and economic kibitzers see that President Duterte would refute the declaration of Poe by citing the snail paced action of the Senate on the approval of the PSA.

The FINL is a legal document released by the government to manage foreign business ownership in different entrepreneurial fields. This follows Republic Act No. 10881, which amends various investment subsidies in laws that focus on controlling adjustment companies (insurance companies), lending, financing, and investment companies.

Senator Bam Aquino, a member of Poe’s committee, told me before that passing a PSA for 100 percent ownership for the lethargic telecommunication and other utilities in the Philippines is not an assurance that this country will attract more investors.

He cited that other problems that discourage investors to come to our shore are corruption, red tape, arduous requirements to get a franchise, and others.

“Kailangan ng telco sa Pilipinas, kailangan mo pa dumaan sa  Kongreso e alam mo naman napakahirap na proseso iyan. Dadaan ka sa NTC. Naparaming permit magtayo ka ng power plant 300 signatures iyong kailangan, sino naman mahihikayat magtayo ng negosyo dito kung ganoon kahirap iyan?”.

***

One of the major reasons why Filipinos suffered economically is because of the lack of competition among the industries in the Philippines.

When President Ferdinand Marcos left the country, the succeeding administrations particularly of President Fidel V. Ramos through the aggressive-cooperation of Speaker Joe de Venecia and Congress demolished, in the name of liberalization, the monopolies of Philippines Airlines and Philippine Long Distance Telephone whose expensive and pathetic services “mugged” the consumers

These two public utilities eventually improved their services what with rivals like Cebu Pacific and Digital Telecommunications Philippines (Digitel) and Globe (versus Smart of PLDT) threatened to outsmart them by cheaper and better services.

The JG Summit Holdings, Incorporation, whose Chairman Emeritus and Founder is John Gokongwei, Jr., owned Digitel-Sun Cellular gave us unlimited  mobile call and  short messaging system (SMS) we colloquially call as text but had merged with PLDT-Smart that now competes with Globe Telecom – a consortium of Singapore Telephone (21.51%) , Ayala Corporation (13.85%), AsiaCom (54.53%), and others.

The better services envisioned by the architects of trade liberalization during the Ramos Administration did not give us the economic Nirvana as seen in Singapore and the United States.

Internet services by these two corporations are not only expensive (have they conspired to the prices how to screw the Filipinos?) but snail paced.

But with Senator Poe questioning the legality of the executive order to be signed by President Duterte our frustration and disappointment with PLDT and Globe Telecom particularly continue.

Poe has a legal basis on this. 
Aside from that, somebody could also question the president at the Supreme Court after he signed the 11^th FINL for the third player.

"Why shove to our throat the Executive Order on FINL when the senators are deliberating the PSA?," cried by the petitioner to the high court. 

Ang problema matagal ng inuupuan iyong amendment ng PSA

ng Mabagal at Mataas na Kapulungan (Senate).
To avoid these legal hassles and ridicule, why not Poe “whip” her committee members on the public service to gather their acts together to expedite the passing of the counterpart bill of the House on the amendment of the PSA so services of the Telco and other utilities in the Philippines spike through the surge of investment and employment.

Senator Poe maam, let’s erased the perception your members procrastinate in passing it because of the impending middle term election that many members of the committee would be running for their reelection.

 

 

READ MY OTHER ARTICLE:

What Charter Change? Just change the PSA to draw investors

 

(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)