At the National Banana Congress in Davao City on Fri, Oct 7, President Rodrigo Duterte talked about a lot of things other than the thriving banana industry in Mindanao.
After targeting lousy government services and red tape, Duterte also threated telecommunications companies in the Philippines to shape up or face fierce competitors from his new best friends: the Chinese.
“If you do not do it right, you wait, I’m going to China,” Duterte warned telcos. “I’ll open up everything for competition. Buksan ko na lang lahat (I’ll just open everything).”
Oh, don’t toy with our fragile hearts like this, Mr. President. Most of us are still recovering from the heartache of the failed deal between San Miguel Corporation and Telstra, which could’ve given us better and wider connectivity by now.
Duterte said he plans to open a complaint hotline/number and allot time in his upcoming morning show to address the complaints sent to the hotline.
He also challenged the owners of two telco giants — Manny V. Pangilinan of PLDT and Smart, and the Ayalas of Globe Telecom — to contribute to his cause and improve their services.
“Ito ngayon: I’ll open a number… Mag-contribute si Pangilinan pati si Ayala ng numero ko, tutal they are… maraming pera sila dito… Wala kayong kumpetensiya. Magtext ako, maghintay ako ng reply. Matulog na muna ako, kinabukasan ko pa mabasa,” he was quoted in a Philippine Daily Inquirer report.
(So here: I’ll open a number… Pangilinan and Ayala should contribute to this number, because they are… They have tons of money here… They don’t have any competition. I’ll text, then I’ll wait for a reply. I’ll sleep first before I read the reply the next day.)
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar seconded Duterte’s threat, saying Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Sec. Rudy Salalima suggested three solutions to resolve the poor Internet services in the country.
“Iyong solusyon na inilatag ni Secretary Rudy Salalima ay either magtayo iyong gobyerno ng sarili niyang telco; number two, ay punan ng gobyerno iyong mga lugar na mahina or walang presence ng mga cell sites or fiber optics. At pangatlo, ay kumuha talaga ng—magpa-bid out para sa third player at papasukin talaga para mas lalong maging vibrant iyong kompetisyon,” Andanar said in a dzBB interview on Sat, Oct 8.
(The solutions laid out by Secretary Rudy Salalima are for the government to build its own telco; number two, for the government to fill the areas with poor or zero cell sites or fiber optics. Third, we can get or bit-out for a third player to enter the industry for a more vibrant competition.)
