PLDT's Mediaquest to bid for IBC-13

PLDT, the nation's largest phone company, said it will bid to acquire state-controlled television network Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp (IBC) through its wholly-owned subsidiary Mediaquest Holdings, Inc. IBC operates TV Channel 13. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said the group would be using Mediaquest because it is a purely Filipino-owned company. There is a law restricting foreign ownership in media companies, including broadcast. “We cannot use PLDT [in our bid] because it has foreign investors. Mediaquest would be the proper vehicle," Pangilinan said. He said PLDT remains interested to bid for IBC-13 although the group is still waiting for the terms of reference (ToR) for the auction, which will be released by the government’s privatization management office (PMO). This would be the third attempt of Pangilinan to win a shot in the broadcasting industry after bids for GMA Network, Inc. and Associated Broadcasting Corporation (ABC-5) failed. PLDT -- which is engaged in fixed line, wireless, cable and Internet businesses -- needs a broadcast network to complete its convergence plan. The state-controlled PMO has hired CLSA Exchange Capital as financial adviser for the privatization of IBC-13 and RPN-9 which is another government TV network. IBC-13 was one of the many companies sequestered by the Aquino administration after the1986 Edsa Revolution for alleged ill-gotten wealth. It belonged to one of Marcos' cronies, Roberto Benedicto, who also owned RPN-9, Banahaw Broadcasting Corp. (Channel 2) and the defunct Philippines Daily Express. Both IBC-13 and RPN-9 were categorized as state companies in 1990 when Benedicto surrendered them under a compromise agreement with the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). IBC-13 owns a 41,000-square meter lot at Broadcast City in Quezon City, has property assets and buildings in the provinces, and has five television and nine radio stations. - GMANews.TV