LINE TO HEAVEN: SENDING SIGNALS TO THE TELCO PLAYERS
First of a Two-Part Series
The fifth (5th) and penultimate State of the Nation Address (SONA) of the President was uneventful. People expected a comprehensive roadmap on how to arrest the worsening infection rate of COVID-19. It appears, however, that there is no plan at all and as observed by former Senator, now Governor of Sorsogon Province, Hon. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, the Government is riding it out until a potent vaccine becomes available. Instead, to cover-up the inadequacy of his speech on how to fight COVID-19, the President hid in his usual rhetorical discourse where he draws popular support — the war on drugs and criminality. The President proceeded to indirectly brag on dismantling the oligarchy by shifting tirades against the Lopezes and their supposed enabler, their fellow Ilonggo Senator Franklin M. Drilon.
After brandishing the freshly exacted vengeance and vindication he exacted against ABS-CBN, the President went on ballistic against the two Telcos, Globe and Smart. Rumor has it that the said tirade was not part of the speech or script. The President purportedly tried to call someone while on his way to Batasan and got a “the subscriber cannot be reached” answer on the other end of the line. Riding on the momentum of his so-called victory against ABS-CBN who allegedly victimized him in the 2016 Elections, the warning to the Telcos sent chills to these Telcos that the head honcho of one of them had to immediately issue a statement an hour or two after the SONA. Using metaphor, the President said, “Kindly improve the services before December. I want to call Jesus Christ to Bethlehem. Better have that line cleared.”
There is no question that there is a need to improve the services of these Telcos who have been in the business for at least two (2) decades. However, Globe, through an infographic, explained that it takes at least twenty-five (25) permits and eight (8) months to build a single cellular site tower. The problem of this argument is that the President, either in connection with his tirades against the Telcos or part of the list of his accomplishments, made mention of the enactment of Republic Act No. 11032, otherwise known as Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018. The new law, which amended and strengthened the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, provides for, among others, the maximum number of days within which a technical transaction may be acted upon:
“c) In case of highly technical transactions that involve activities such as, but not limited to, research, field trials, scientific methodology, inter-government actions, the government agency or office may apply the multi-stage system subject to the approval of the Authority, provided that the total processing time for all concerned agencies or offices shall not exceed forty (40) days.
d) If the application or request for license, clearance, permit, certification or authorization shall require the approval of the local Sangguniang Bayan, Sangguniang Panlungsod, or the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, as the case may be, the Sanggunian concerned shall be given a period of forty-five (45) working days to act on the application or request, which can be extended for another twenty (20) working days. If it is a denial, the Sanggunian concerned must indicate the reason for the denial. (Section 3, Rule VII of the Implementing Rules and Regulations)
The Ease of Doing Business Act also provides for a mechanism wherein an application for a permit or license will be automatically approved:1) if a government office or agency fails to approve or disapprove and original application or request for the issuance of license, permit, certification, or authorization within the prescribed processing time; 2) when all the required documents have been submitted; and 3) when all the required fees and charges have been paid. (Section 1, Rule VIII of the IRR)
The Government may argue that it already provided the policy framework and solution to help these Telcos achieve their permitting requirements for their new cellsites to further improve signals nationwide. The Telcos may retort, however, that while the Ease of Doing Business Act set a time limit for acting upon every application, it did not streamline the 25 permits they need to obtain for every cellsite they wish to build. These Telcos were clamoring for a streamlined process or a “one-stop-shop” mechanism for their cellsite permitting requirements. On the maximum, these Telcos are lobbying for so-called “common towers” with the Government building these strategic cellsites and just leasing these to the Telcos.
From the foregoing, it remains to be seen if the President is serious in going after these Telcos should they fail to improve their services by the end of the year. Whether there is basis for the Government, through the Solicitor General, to file Quo Warranto Petitions to cancel their legislative franchise, this will be the subject of the next part of this series.