Gordon: Senate panel resumes hearings

The Senate resumes today (Sept. 15) its public hearings on a proposal mandating telecommunication companies (telcos) to allocate 50 percent of their net revenues from short messaging system (SMS) to fund the country's health and education requirements.

Sen. Richard J. Gordon, chairman of the Senate committee on government corporations and public enterprises, said the government badly needs to find innovative ways and means by which to address the ballooning backlogs in education and health.

"It is time we take a big leap forward and make our public education system catch up to present demands. Once this measure is passed into law, the Department of Education can refocus its priorities on academic concerns and not be distracted by infrastructure and logistic," he said, referring to Senate Bill (SB) 2402 he has authored.

Among those invited to appear before the hearing are National Telecommunication Commission Chairman Ruel Canobas, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus, and Health Secretary Francisco Duque.

Also invited are Napoleon Nazareno, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Philippine Long Distance Telephone and Smart Telecom, Eugenio Lopez III, president of Bayantel, Charles Lim, CEO of Sun Cellular, and Gil B. Genio, CEO Globe-Innove.

Under SB 2402, every commercial mobile service provider will be required to remit half or 50 percent of its net revenue earnings arising from SMS to the national government, particularly to the Health and Education Acceleration Program (HEAP) Corporation.

HEAP Corporation, which shall be placed under the Office of the President, shall be tasked to manage the fund intended to rehabilitate and accelerate education and health infrastructure in the country.

"Would telecommunication companies go against a measure that will finally give our country with a public education system that will match the public education systems of developed nations," Gordon said.

"I don't think our these firms are so hard-hearted and so attached to their billions in profits that they won't see this as a direct way to lift millions of our people out of the cycle of poverty by providing them the best quality education possible," he added.

At present, the country desperately needs some Php 18.3 billion to address health and education backlogs, notably on the lack of classrooms, textbooks, chairs, principals and teachers nationwide.

With an estimated 59,958,000 mobile phone subscribers sending a conservative 10 messages a day, the national government can generate some P98.4 billion a year or P492.3 billion in five years once SB 2402 is enacted into law.