Press Release
November 8, 2018

We don't want China Telecom joint venture to be NBN-ZTE part 2: Senators Drilon, Hontiveros, De Lima, Pangilinan, Trillanes

Our telecommunications need more industry players for the sake of the tens millions of Filipino consumers who deserve quality Internet and mobile services.

We long for a time when Filipinos would have free access to the Internet, when we could use our mobile phones without experiencing drop calls, when text messages would arrive on time, and when our private data would not be used without our knowledge or consent for commercial and intelligence

That's why we need to do things right.

The selection of the joint venture of a Davao-based businessman and state-owned China Telecom as the provisional new major telecommunications player should be examined carefully.

What qualified it in the first place? Why were the other bidders booted out? What is the track record of the winning bidder in the telecommunications business? Was the government opening up the bidding to other players just a formality? Masabi lang that the government went through the process? In December 2017, Malacanang said it wants the government to ensure that China Telecom can begin its Philippine operations by the first quarter of 2018. Ito na ba yun?

The government should be transparent about these matters because allowing the joint venture to enter the industry means giving them access to our daily communication activities, a security issue for our country and our people.

We do not want another NBN-ZTE ($329 million) and North Rail ($421 million) anomalous deals in our midst, which if not exposed, would have robbed the people billions of pesos.

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