Palace urges telcos to prove better services

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque admitted that he personally felt that there was no improvement in telco services. (Pixabay photo)

MANILA – Malacañang on Tuesday urged telecommunication companies Globe Telecom Inc. and Smart Communications Inc. to prove that they have improved their services, reminding them of the deadline set by President Rodrigo Duterte.

In his penultimate state of the nation address last July, Duterte gave both telcos until December to improve their services or get shut down.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque admitted that he personally felt that there was no improvement in telco services.

“Aking eksperyensiya po, ang aking cellphone impossible pa rin, hindi ka talaga maka-contact sa cellphone. Ang ginagamit ko ngayon Viber or WhatsApp, iyong voice over internet protocol. So sa tingin ko po wala pa ring malaking improvement—para nga pong wala pang improvement (In my experience, it’s still impossible to contact anyone using my cellphone. I use Viber or WhatsApp, or voice over internet protocols. So I think there’s no huge improvement—I think there wasn’t an improvement at all),” he said in a Palace press briefing.

Roque said he thinks many Filipinos as well as Duterte would agree with his statement that there have not been any significant changes in telco services.

“Kinumpirma ko na ang karanasan natin ay talagang ganiyan din ang nararamdaman ng buong bayan, at si Presidente rin siguro napapansin niya wala pa ring improvement (I can confirm with my experience that the entire nation feels the same, and the President himself noticed that there’s no improvement until now),” he added.

He challenged telcos to submit a list of towers they have been putting up since Duterte asked them to improve their services.

“So hinihimok ko po ang ating mga telcos: Ano naman po ang isusukli ninyo matapos kayong pagbigyan ng Presidente doon sa hinihiling ninyo na mas mapabilis iyong pag-approval ng mga telecom towers Tingin ko naman siguro dahil nakuha na nila iyong mga approval (So I invoke telcos: What did you do after the President gave in to your request to approve permits to allow the installation of telecom towers)?, it’s a matter of installing the telecoms towers,” he said.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año earlier announced that 2,220 applications for telco towers have been approved while 712 are still pending.

Roque said telcos should also provide a date when Filipinos could start to expect improvement in their services.

“I would like to invite both companies to submit to us, iyong mga bagong towers na naitayo na nila (the new towers they have put up) and I really want them to commit kung kailan sila magkakaroon nang mas mabuting serbisyo (when we can expect better services),” he added.

He said his office also tried to reach National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Commissioner Gamaliel Cordova to get his assessment on telco services.

Meanwhile, Roque reiterated the need for a third telco player to introduce new competition in the industry.

“Kinakailangan naman po talaga na makita natin ang pagbabago at kinakailangan talagang pumasok na iyong ating third telecoms player – ang DITO (we really need to see changes and we really need a third telecoms players DITO),” he said.

On July 8, 2019, Duterte awarded Mislatel Consortium, now Dito Telecommunity, the permit to operate as the Philippines’ third telco provider.

The corporation is a consortium led by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy and composed of Uy’s Udenna Corporation, its subsidiary Chelsea Logistics, and China Telecommunications Corporation.