SEN. GRACE POE'S SPONSORSHIP SPEECH
FOR COMMITTEE REPORT NO. 301, RECOMMENDING THE APPROVAL OF SBN 1754
March 20, 2018

Mr. President, distinguished colleagues, and guests, good afternoon.

I stand honored and privileged this afternoon to sponsor Committee Report No. 301, which recommends the approval of Senate Bill No. 1754 entitled, "An Act Amending Commonwealth Act No.146, Otherwise Known as 'The Public Service Act', as Amended, and For Other Purposes", in substitution of Senate Bill Nos. 695, 1261, 1291, 1441, 1594 and taking into consideration House Bill No. 5828.

SBN 1754 is a wonderful example of the exercise of legislative power in relation to the ever-changing needs of the Filipino people and the country as well as changes brought about by investments and economic trends worldwide.

Mr. President, public services are in constant play from the moment one wakes up in the morning until he/she closes his/her eyes to sleep at night:

• Ang kuryenteng walang tigil na nagpapatakbo sa ating mga bumbilya, bentilador, ref, plantsa, washing machine;

• Ang tubig na iniinom natin, ipinang-lalaba at ipinang-liligo;

• Ang nagpapagana sa ating mga telepono at internet upang makausap natin ang ating mga mahal sa buhay, upang makapag-Facebook at Twitter tayo;

• Ang mga nagpapagana at nagpapatakbo sa ating mga napapanood sa TV, naririnig sa radyo at nababasa sa mga pahayagan at magasin;

• At ang mga pampublikong sasakyan na ating sinasakyan papunta sa trabaho, pauwi o papunta sa mga malls o kung saan pa man - mga tricycle, jeep, bus, tren.

Mr. President, lahat po ng aking mga nabanggit, kasama ang marami pang iba, ay sinasaklawan ng terminong "Public Services" at ng naluma nang Public Service Act, circa 1936.

As policy makers and as Senators of the republic who represent the will and sovereignty of the people, it is our duty not just to listen to the complaints and concerns of our constituents. Hindi po tayo magbibingi-bingihan sa mga reklamo ukol sa mabagal na internet, load ng cellphone na bigla-biglang nababawasan, pekeng "unli data" o "unli surf", luma, palyado at mausok na bus, jeep at tricycle. Kailangan po nating pakinggan ang mga ito sapagkat pinaghirapang pera ng ating mga kababayan ang sinisingil ng mga public service providers. Higit sa lahat - kunsumisyon o kaginhawaan ng buhay ng ating mga kababayan ang nakataya dito. Kailangan po nating umaksyon.

To give honor and value to the mandate that the Filipino people had bestowed upon this representation, I stand today urging all of us to immediate passage of SBN 1754. In a nutshell, Mr. President, this legislative measure seeks to IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE GOODS AND SERVICES OF PUBLIC SERVICE PROVIDERS AND LOWER THE COSTS OF SAID GOODS AND SERVICES AT THE SAME TIME. We desire to achieve that ultimate goal through the following features of the proposed bill:

FIRST: We are taking advantage of our legislative power in finally providing a statutory definition of "public utility" which should be different from the definition of the term "Public Services".

The proposed bill recognizes that "Public Service" is the much broader term, the umbrella term so to speak, while the term "Public Utility" is just a sub-set and is much smaller in scope under public service.

The distinction between "Public Service" and "Public Utility" is not trivial, Mr. President. The distinction between the two carries with it some huge ramification in terms of Constitutional restrictions such as foreign equity and meaningful competition, among others.

"Public Utilities" are to be treated as natural monopolies which must be restricted pursuant to Section 11, Article 12 of the Constitution. Section 5 of SBN 1754 defines what is a "public utility" with some guidelines before coming up with an exhaustive list of what are "public utilities". In addition to being natural monopolies, Section 5 of SBN 1754 explicitly states that a "public utility" is:

A SUBSET OF PUBLIC SERVICE, IT REFERS TO THE DIRECT TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION, AND DELIVERY THROUGH A NETWORK, OF A COMMODITY OR SERVICE OF PUBLIC CONSEQUENCE.

xxx

THE FOLLOWING SHALL BE AN EXCLUSIVE LIST OF PUBLIC UTILITIES:
(1) TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRICITY;
(2) DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRICITY; AND
(3) WATER WORKS AND SEWERAGE SYSTEMS.

Mr. President, ang natural na epekto ng ating panukalang depenisyon ng "Public Utility" ay ang "paglaya" ng lahat ng public services na hindi kabilang sa tatlong nailistang public utilities. "Paglaya", Mr. President, sapagkat ang mga hindi nabanggit na public services ay mawawala na sa mahigpit na Constitutional restrictions patungkol sa foreign ownership, equity at operation, at iba pa.

Inaasahan po nating ang karamihan ng public services ay magiging bukas sa mas malawakang kompetisyon, Mr. President. A meaningful competition will allow more players, domestic and foreign, to slug it out to win the satisfaction of the consuming Filipino people. Sa ganitong paraan, magpapaligsahan ang mga ito sa pagbibigay ng de kalidad na serbisyo at produkto sa pinakamababang presyo para sa mga Pilipino. Mr. President, inaasahan nating burahin na ang "take it or leave it" attitude ng mga nagpakasasa sa monopolya nitong mga nakaraang dekada o siglo.

Further, to allay fears of some claiming that regulations and restrictions will be either zero or too relaxed, SBN 1754's Section 5 further provides that said proposed law:

"...DOES NOT HAVE ANY EFFECT ON THE EXISTING REGULATIONS OF PUBLIC SERVICES AND DO NOT, IN ANY WAY, DIMINISH THE CONSTITUTIONAL RESTRICTIONS PROVIDED UNDER SECTIONS 11 AND 17, ARTICLE 12 AND SECTION 4, ARTICLE 9 (PART C) OF THE CONSTITUTION. NEITHER DOES THIS SECTION NOR THIS ACT REDEFINE "COMMON CARRIERS" AND ALTER THE EXISTING HIGH STANDARDS ACCORDED TO IT."

SECOND: Mr. President, as the saying goes, "it takes two to tango". Public Service providers and public utilities should not be seen as the "enemies of the Filipino people" just because they collect and we pay. SBN 1754 endeavors to ensure that said public service providers and public utilities will have a reasonable rate of return.

Public service providers are the partners of the Filipino people. Ang ikagiginhawa ng bulsa at pamumuhay ng mga kababayan nating Pilipino ay nararapat namang hindi maging dahilan ng pagkalugi ng ating public service providers.

SBN 1754 acknowledges that the computation of the "reasonable rate of return" had come a long way since the enactment of the 82-year old Public Service Act. As such, and in consideration of the ever-dynamic and varying movement of numerous market factors, Section 7 suggests a formula: real time fluctuations, inflations and much more other factors would be considered in computing for the "reasonable rate of return" for public services rather than relying on a fixed and non-moving rate of return fixed by the Supreme Court at 12%.

THIRD: Mr. President, anumang ganda ng ulo at katawan ng isang batas, ang implementasyon nito ay magiging mahirap kung wala itong matatalas na ngipin sa pamamagitan ng mga penalties at fines na dapat ay katakutan.

The 82-year old Public Service Act provides that if a public service is caught violating or failing to comply with the terms and conditions of any certificate or any order, decision or regulation of the regulating agencies, the violator would merely be required to pay a laughable and negligible TWO HUNDRED PESOS (Php200.00) PER DAY OF VIOLATION until it complies. Mr. President, marahil ay mas mahal pa ang mga Gatorade na ininom ng ating mga champion basketball players dito sa Senado na naglaro para sa kampyonato ng Senate Defenders sa UNTV Cup. Dahil dito, naging mas matipid pa ang lumabag sa batas kaysa sumunod dito, Mr. President. Nakakatawang nakakalungkot.

Section 10 of SBN 1754 increased the fines and added more penalties for violators. If this proposed bill is enacted into law, a violator will now be fined up to FIVE MILLION PESOS (Php5,000,000.00) per day of violation PLUS "disgorgement of profits" and additional "treble damages". Mas masakit po iyan.

Pahapyaw lamang po iyan sa mga ginawang pagpapalawig ng SBN 1754 sa mga fines and penalties.

FOURTH AND LASTLY: Mr. President, SBN 1754 seeks to update and upgrade the deregulation of the powers of the old "Public Service Commission". As can be gleaned in Section 4 of the Act.

This acknowledged deregulation of administrative and regulatory powers of the Public Service Commission is but a clear and express manifestation of the Government that not a single ounce of existing regulation over public services is to be relaxed under SBN 1754.

Mr. President, amidst all the upgrades and improvements that we seek to introduce, we assure the existing players in the public services sector that all existing contracts based on the old Public Service Act shall be respected and will not be impaired before the expiration of said contracts.

Mr. President, my dear colleagues, it is for the foregoing reasons that I urge you that we immediately pass and approve in the Senate SBN 1754.

Sa mga sinabi rin ng ating Pangulo na 3rd telco player, 4th o 5th kung meron man, ito ang batas na magbibigay ng awtoridad para ito ay maging isang realidad. Napakinggan na po natin kung papaano paginhawain at pagandahin ang estado ng ating mga kababayan. Oras na po upang tayo ay tumugon at umaksyon.

Maraming salamat po, Mr. President.