GMA allowed 3 new telecom players — House records

President Arroyo had actually allowed three new telecommunications (telecom) industry players before shutting the door on two other applicants, one of whom is supposed to have bribed her husband with P50 million.

House records show that the President signed one telecom franchise bill and let another lapse into law at about the same time that she vetoed the controversial Philippine Communications Clearinghouse Inc. and APC Wireless Interface Network Inc. franchises.

A third franchise measure was allowed to automatically become a law in January shortly after Mrs. Arroyo assumed office.

She had also signed one airline franchise bill authored and sponsored by her transportation and communications secretary, Pantaleon Alvarez, when he was still Davao del Norte congressman.

Records of the House committee on legislative franchises show that the President signed last April 24 a bill granting a telecom franchise to Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprises Inc., six days after rejecting the same privilege for PCCI.

Three days later, on April 27, she vetoed APC’s franchise application.

On April 15, she allowed a bill giving a telecom franchise to Solid Broadband Corp. to lapse into law. Through her inaction, Click Communications Inc. got its telecom privilege in January.

A Congress-passed measure lapses or automatically becomes part of the statute books if the President does not sign or veto it within 30 days from the time it is sent to Malacañang.

Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri (Lakas, Bukidnon), incoming chairman of the franchises committee, told reporters that he has reviewed the three bills that have become law and the two that were vetoed.

"Halos pare-pareho ang mga provisions, hindi magkakaiba yung lima (They have almost the same provisions. None of the five is different from the others)," he said.

He said he could not find in the PCCI franchise application a requirement for other telecom operators to interconnect through PCCI.

"That cannot be, because there is a standard provision saying telecom operators can interconnect through mutual agreement and under rules prescribed by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)," he said.

He added that NTC did not object to the grant of franchises to all five applicants.

In her veto message, Mrs. Arroyo said she rejected PCCI’s application because of the world "clearinghouse" in its name.

She said the word "is identical to or resembles signs used by the government, its agencies or instrumentalities to indicate an office from where emanates authoritative approval or official sanction."

The President’s husband, Mike Arroyo was alleged to have received a P50-million bribe in exchange for working for the recall of his wife’s veto on PCCI’s franchise application. He denies he took a bribe.

Mrs. Arroyo rejected APC’s telecom privilege because "the grant at this time of a franchise to another entity may needlessly crowd the network that would lead to inefficiency of all those tasked to provide the service."

Opposition Rep. Gilbert Remulla (LDP, Cavite), one of the minority’s nominees in the franchises committee, said the President has been "choosy, in fact arbitrary" in selecting the new telecom players.

"From the point of view of policy, if a particular industry is crowded, it is crowded to all applicants. You don’t slam the door on one player today, let another in tomorrow and then shut the door again. Something is not right," he said.

‘A victory for GMA government’

Meanwhile, Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. said the P50-million bribery scandal involving First Gentleman Mike Arroyo has finally died down, "indicating a victory for the Arroyo administration against attempts to force it to compromise government policies."

Pichay said the simple truth that no bribery took place over the vetoed franchise bill of the controversial Philippine Communications Clearinghouse Inc. (PCCI) saved the country and the President from further embarrassment.

"You cannot forever disregard truth, for at the end of the day, it will come out," he said.

Pichay cited how Cabinet members, specifically Transportation and Communications Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez, rallied behind Mrs. Arroyo at the height of the bribery scandal.

Alvarez allegedly "took the lead in confronting the lies" even as he was busy fending off attempts to overturn his recommendation for the veto of the PCCI franchise.

"The fact that the President did not blink even during the height of the accusations against her husband is a lesson to all future lobbyists that dirty tricks will not work against an honest government," Pichay added.

He also said prospective investors should look at the "unity and integrity of President Arroyo and her official family" as an indication of political stability in the country which is a major factor in business viability.