Duterte threatens to shut down PLDT if it won’t add trunk lines to 8888 hotline

President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to shut down PLDT Inc. if the country’s largest telecommunications company fails to add trunk lines to the citizens’ complaint hotline 8888.

Duterte was discussing his anti-corruption efforts at a PDP-Laban campaign rally in Cebu City on Sunday night when he called for an effective implementation of the complaint hotline.

“If you see corruption, tell me. Call 8888. Bong [former Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go], add another trunk line. The present setup can’t accommodate all the calls. It’s always busy. Tell PLDT. If not, I’ll shut down their business,” Duterte said, drawing laughter from the audience.

“Oo, that’s true. I don’t want to brag, but they owe government eight billion [pesos]. No President has ever asked for payment. But when I became President, I said…,” he said.

PLDT Inc. said it is taking steps to address Duterte's concern.

"We are currently taking steps to address the concern expressed by the President to improve the public's access to the  Citizen's Complaint Center 8888 hotline number," Ramon Isberto, PLDT head of public affairs, told GMA News Online.

The 24-hour hotline was institutionalized in 2016 in order for the public to report corrupt or underperforming government officials and projects.

Opposition Senator Leila De Lima claimed the hotline served 54,743 calls but failed to accommodate 1.4 million calls in the first five months of operation from August to December 2016 due to the service being “undermanned.”

She said that some Filipinos complained of being charged P5 per minute via mobile despite prior vows by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to have the hotlines free of charge.

“While there is no charge if they call via landline, this program is still not accessible to all, especially because not everyone has an access to landlines and prepaid mobile phone users would not be able to access the hotline either by call or SMS if they have no remaining credits,” she said.

De Lima called on the Senate in December 2017 to probe the efficacy and accessibility in the implementation of the complaint hotline. —With a report from Ted Cordero/KG, GMA News