Poe concurs with Drilon’s position on Mislatel Inc.’s franchise violation

Mindanao Islamic Telephone Co. Inc. indeed failed to comply with its franchise requirement since it was granted in 1998, Senator Grace Poe said Tuesday, concurring with Senator Franklin Drilon’s position on the matter.

“Senator Drilon is correct when he says that there are certain requirements that we should comply with if you are granted a franchise. One, it should be in operation one year after you received the franchise,” Poe said in her interview on Hotcopy.

“Clearly (Mislatel Inc.) did not comply with that,” Poe said.

Drilon earlier said Mislatel Inc.’s franchise was “ipso facto” void as the telco failed to operate within a year from 1998.

However, Poe pointed out that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) should have checked the validity of the franchise when Mislatel Consortium, of which Mislatel Inc. is a member, made a bid for the third major telecom player.

Poe noted that Congress has jurisdiction over the issues on Mislatel Inc.’s franchise, emphasizing that the franchise remains valid unless there had been a congressional action on the matter.

“Congress has to act on it. And since no process of that took place, then their franchise is valid,” she said.

Poe is of the opinion that the Senate will grant Mislatel Inc.’s franchise, considering the country’s desperation to have a third telco in place as President Rodrigo Duterte ordered.

“The need, the concern also of the public shapes the policy. Sometimes you need to amend the law to address the need of the people at that time,” Poe said. —Joviland Rita/VDS, GMA News