De Lima hits govt for limiting entry of 3rd telco player to China

FILE: “This means that the government intends to exclude all other foreign companies from participating in the telco industry, no matter how more competent and more advanced their services and technology might be,” De Lima said in a statement. (Photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

Detained Senator Leila De Lima slammed the administration’s statement that it would only offer the participation of a third player in the telecommunications industry to Chinese companies, saying it is “economically irrational” and indicative of how the Philippines lean towards China.

Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte has offered China to operate as a third key player in the telecommunications industry to break the current duopoly in the country.

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar named China Telecom, China’s largest telecommunication company, as the third telco firm that would invest in the Philippines to improve internet service in the country.

“This means that the government intends to exclude all other foreign companies from participating in the telco industry, no matter how more competent and more advanced their services and technology might be,” De Lima said in a statement.

“This situation serves the Duterte administration well especially now that it has made the Philippines a pariah state in the international community because of its human rights record,” she added.

The senator said the entry of the Chinese telco company might be good for the present government but not necessarily for the future of the country.

“The experience of countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia, and a host of other Asian and even African nations should serve as a lesson of how China ultimately demands for its pound of flesh once it decides to cash in. This is not to mention the security threat a Chinese telco poses to the country’s information and communication infrastructure,” De Lima said.

“What will assure us that in the future, our national security and whole intelligence and defense systems won’t be compromised, if not under the complete control of a foreign government with national interests diametrically opposed to our own?…Do we really want a country who has the most interest in undermining our national security to have a major role in our public utilities, especially communications?” De Lima asked.

De Lima also said the development causes no worry for the administration as they want to make the Philippines a “Chinese satellite” or the center of China, “shunning Western democracies, but without the economic independence and self-sufficiency of the other progressive ASEAN nations to enable us to stand our ground against the Chinese juggernaut.”

The senator also called for the end of the “undesirable dystopia” from becoming reality.