Joker seeks senate inquiry on PLDT-Digitel deal

Senator Joker Arroyo has filed a resolution seeking to conduct an inquiry on the share-swap deal between the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc. (Digitel), operator of Sun Cellular. Senate Resolution 477 seeks to direct the Senate committee on public services to determine whether the PLDT-Digitel deal violated certain provisions of their legislative franchises. "(This inquiry shall also determine whether) the arrangement would be to the public interest," Arroyo said in the resolution dated May 18. He explained that with PLDT's acquisition of majority shares in Digitel, it would control 70 percent of the total cellular subscribers in the country, with the remaining 30 percent under its competitor Globe Telecommunications Inc. "(It) raises the question of whether it is to the public good," said Arroyo. PLDT already owns Smart Communications Inc., Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprise Inc. (Red Mobile), and Pilipino Telephone Corp. Earlier, Arroyo and Senate Minority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said that telcos should first seek their approval before undergoing such deals. Arroyo likewise said the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cannot act on such deals without their go signal. Section 16 of the Congressional franchise of Digitel says that it "shall not lease, transfer, grant and usufruct of, sell nor assign this franchise or the rights and privileges acquired thereunder to any person, firm, company, corporation or other commercial or legal entity, nor merge with any other corporation or entity nor shall the controlling interest of the grantee be transferred, whether as a whole or in parts and whether simultaneously or contemporaneously, to any such person, firm,company, corporation or entity without prior approval of tthe Congress of the Philippines." Section 20 of the same franchise says that it is "subject to amendment, alteration or repeal by the Congress of the Philippines when the public interest so requires and shall not be interpreted as an exclusive grant of the privileges herein provided for." The Senate committee on public services has ordered the NTC to study the possible effects of the deal. - VVP, GMA News