Manny Pangilinan disputes Duterte’s claim on PLDT’s P8-B debt to government

PLDT Inc. chairman Manny Pangilinan on Thursday disputed the claim of President Rodrigo Duterte that the country’s largest telecommunications company owed the government P8 billion.

Pangilinan said the company has been paying taxes regularly.

“I checked internally, ‘ano ba ang utang natin?’ I don't know. As far as we know, wala kaming utang. We pay our taxes regularly on a quarterly basis. In fact [we pay] in advance,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the groundbreaking ceremony for road projects in Caloocan City with Duterte as guest of honor.

The businessman said he does not know where Duterte got the figure about PLDT’s alleged debt to the government.

Duterte mentioned the telco’s alleged debt at a PDP-Laban campaign rally on Sunday in Cebu City where he threatened to shut down PLDT if it fails to accommodate all the calls in the citizens’ complaint hotline 8888.

“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 P8 billion. No President has ever asked for payment. But when I became President, I said…,” he said.

To address the problem, Pangilinan said on Tuesday that PLDT would add more trunk lines and increase personnel manning the complaint call center, despite their contract saying they have to service 20 lines.

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