Press Release
January 29, 2019

POE: NEXT HEARING CRUCIAL IN DECIDING MISLATEL'S FATE

Sen. Grace Poe said the fate of Mislatel Consortium would be clearer on Wednesday when the Committee on Public Services resumes its hearing on the selection of the country's third telecommunications provider.

Poe said the committee has invited members of the academe and legal luminaries to help explain the issues surrounding the validity of the franchise of Mislatel.

"Dito na maninimbang kung ano'ng kalalabasan para sa Mislatel," she said in a radio interview.

The hearing is set at 10 a.m. at the Recto-Laurel rooms at the Senate.

Poe said holding a re-bidding for the selection of the third telco could be more favorable to the public than allowing a company to operate hounded by questions on the validity of its franchise.

Poe said having a new major player that would later on encounter legal entanglements in the courts could further delay the country's goal to provide the consumers with fast and reliable internet and telecommunications.

"Dapat malinaw ang national interest, meron bang emergency na kailangan natin ito, I say meron, kaya lang ang problema lang dito, kunwari pinayagan namin sa Senado at pinasa namin 'yan, kung mayroong mag-question at 'yan ay dumating sa korte at pinatigil 'yan, ...baka abutin ng taon bago tayo magkaroon ng isa pang telco," she said.

Poe continued, "On the other hand, kung agad-agad na gumawa na tayo ng desisyon na alam mo, hindi ligal ang prangkisa, so siguro hindi pwede ang Mislatel, makakapag-umpisa na uli ng bidding ang DICT at NTC, pero made-delay tayo ng about three months."

"Iyon ang kapalit noon, so iisipin natin, kung hindi natin ginalingan ang ating trabaho sa pagkilatis nito, another three months delay, or perhaps years or even a decade sa korte," she added.

Questions on the validity of the franchise of Mislatel surfaced during a hearing last week conducted by the Senate committee on public services, which Poe heads.

Poe said the hearing bared that Mislatel appeared to have failed in complying with the conditions set by Congress when it handed the firm its franchise, such as the requirement to operate within one year after the acquisition of the franchise and the need to put at least 30 percent of its stocks to public offering.

"Lumalabas na walang lehitimong prangkisa dahil sa maraming bagay. Gusto natin ng kumpetisyon, pero pinag-aaralan kung sila ay sumusunod na ayon sa batas," she said.

Poe said the Department of Information and Communications Technology might have been remiss in thoroughly reviewing the franchise of Mislatel during the bidding process.

"Pasensya na pero meron talagang kakulangan sa DICT, kasi wala naman sa aking problema na kaibigan ng Panuglo, eh ano kung kaibigan ng Pangulo kung lahat naman ng kundisyon ay nagawa n'ya," Poe said, referring to Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy, one of the partners in the consortium.

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