Senate hearing on connectivity marred by 'awful' internet connection

The Senate committee on public services' hearing on internet connectivity in the Philippines was "awfully" affected by spotty connections on Wednesday.

In the middle of the hearing, Senator Nancy Binay told Senate committee on public services chairperson Grace Poe that the technical issues are quite bothersome.

"Kung anuman ang Mbps (Megabits per second) natin, apparently it's not good enough because we're having problems with our connection," Binay said.

"I've attended several hearings, I think 'yung committee hearing mo today 'yung pinakamasama ang signal," she added, bursting into laughter.

Poe agreed and jested that she is sensing a sabotage.

"Alam mo, I think sinasabotahe ito eh. Akala ninyo titigilan ko kayo? Hindi. Dahil if I have to require your physical presence here next time, I will," she said, addressing resource speakers.

"This is the worst, actually... Comedy of errors na talaga natin ito eh. Lumalabas ang sintomas ng talagang sakit na dapat nating gamutin," she added.

Invited in the said Senate hearing are the National Telecommunications Commission, and the various telcos providing internet connection in the country.

Delays and problematic audio hounded the "virtual" Senate hearing. It was suspended by Poe at 3:16 p.m. so as not to prolong the "suffering" of the participants in trying to understand each other with the "horrible" internet connection.

"I think that this will be part of the committee report how in the Senate itself we are experiencing some challenges with this new way of conducting our hearing," she said.

Last week, the NTC also failed to participate in a Senate hearing of the committee on basic education. It struck as an irony and disheartened senators on the possibility of online learning in the country amid the global pandemic.—AOL, GMA News