AN official of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) on Tuesday said rival Globe Telecom Inc. was “stepping up the pressure on the government” when it urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the transaction between PLDT and Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc.(Digitel).
Ray Espinosa, PLDT head of regulatory affairs and policy, said this move from Globe was nothing more than “forum shopping” and a politically cheap shot.
PLDT also said it was still retaining its June 30 target closing date for the PLDT-Digitel transaction.
After Tuesday’s hearing at the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), Espinosa said, “It’s still the goal of the PLDT group to close the transaction by the end of this month. But we don’t know because it’s out of our hands.”
The NTC has set another hearing on Wednesday and on Thursday.
During Tuesday’s hearing, PLDT presented two witnesses to attest to the truthfulness of the documents it submitted to the commission.
Globe last week called on the DOJ to look into the impact of the deal in light of the recent directive from Malacañang against monopolies.
Under Executive Order (EO) 45, the DOJ was designated by the Palace as the country’s “competition authority” mandated to “investigate all cases involving violations of competition laws and prosecute violators to prevent, restrain and punish monopolization, cartels and combinations in restraint of trade.”
Espinosa said Globe was exerting pressure on the government so that it will bestow upon Globe, state-sponsored concessions.
“This undue benefit being extracted by Globe through a combination of public pressure and political rhetoric flies in the face of the Antigraft and Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits the government from giving undue benefit to any private party. Globe is an inefficient user of radio-frequency spectrum. How can it ask or, worse, force the government to award to it more radio-frequency spectrum that it can efficiently use?”
Espinosa said this move from Globe seeks to undermine the clear statutory authority of the NTC by calling upon the DOJ to investigate and stop the PLDT-Digitel deal. This, he said, even as Globe’s legal counsel is fully aware that the public-service law explicitly provides that the NTC shall be the only approving authority for such a transaction in the exercise of the NTC’s quasijudicial powers.
“Globe’s legal counsel is fully aware that the power to recall and award radio-frequency spectrum is governed by law and involves a quasijudicial process which requires due notice and hearing. By law, this power resides exclusively with the NTC. The requirement of and right to due process is protected by the Constitution and Globe cannot, and should not, be allowed to trample upon this basic right on the basis simply of public pressure and political rhetoric,” said Espinosa.
Globe legal counsel Rodolfo Salalima said the DOJ should act swiftly to prevent the PLDT-Digitel deal from resulting in a telecom market player so big as to have the power and means to effectively stifle competition.
Salalima said Globe has always warned against the possible return of monopoly, as the PLDT-Digitel deal would result in one company cornering the bulk of a very limited spectrum of frequencies.
But for PLDT, this latest stunt of Globe was intended to throw the ongoing NTC proceedings into confusion, Espinosa said. Globe’s legal counsel is fully aware that EO 45 was not intended to divest the NTC of its jurisdiction and statutory powers as the regulator of the telecommunication sector, he said.
“Globe cannot be a guardian of free competition. It is the beneficiary of a combination and arrangement in restraint of trade—it has exclusivity in the Ayala malls, which is owned and controlled by the majority owner of Globe. PLDT, Digitel and any other telecommunication provider cannot provide basic telecommunication services to tenants of these malls even if they want to have the services because of the exclusivity bestowed upon Globe by its majority owner. This egregious behavior is what falls squarely within the scope and mandate of EO 45, and the DOJ should investigate and stop this illegal practice to promote free competition in domestic trade,” the PLDT official said.
Meanwhile, broadband scam whistle-blower Joey de Venecia is asking the government to bid out unused telecom frequencies that could raise billions of dollars in revenue for the cash-strapped administration. Telco giants should not be allowed to hoard these frequencies, he said.
De Venecia also asked the NTC to reconsider the controversial share-swap deal between PLDT and Digitel. “The government must carefully weigh the pros and cons of PLDT’s purchase of rival Digitel in order to protect the rights of Filipino consumers,” de Venecia said. He raised a warning that if the deal pushed through, “PLDT would have a virtual monopoly of the telecom industry just as it did in the past.”
(With Butch Fernandez)
