Consumer, civil society, religious, and youth and student groups in Cebu launched today a movement to stop monopoly in the telecommunication sector in a People’s Forum that also warned of a looming return of PLDT’s monopoly during the days of the Marcos regime.
The groups assailed the impending control of PLDT-Smart of 70% of the contested franchise of frequency and bandwidth in the telecommunications sector as the company acquired Digitel, owner of Sun Cellular.
“In the light of all this, it is the responsibility of the government to act swiftly and ensure that public interest is upheld. The Senate has already waived its duties to the people and brought the issue back to the NTC. At the end of the day, we look up to the government for intervention and ensure that our right to fair and quality services and our right to choose as consumers are not violated,” said Jess Sandow, Convenor of Samahan Laban sa Monopolyo (SLaM).
The forum, organized by SLaM together with Freedom from Debt Coalition-Cebu, Sanlakas Sugbu and University of San Carlos Lex Circle (Law Student Council) gathered about 50 representatives of different cause-oriented groups in the province. In a resolution passed during the forum, the participants agreed to intensify the campaign nationwide to defend any attempt of maintaining monopoly in the country’s strategic industries, such as telecommunication.
“The telecommunication airwaves or frequency is a public domain that should be the subject of government regulation. This is an important infrastructure to safeguard the people against corporate greed. It should not be controlled by any single company to ensure true and fair competition among the different players while the consumers’ welfare are duly protected,” explained Sandow.
The other groups that attended the forum are the Cebu Bloggers Society Incorporated (CBSI), Youth Against Debt-Cebu, Piglas Kabataan, Youth for Rights (Y4R) Sibonga, Union of Progressive Students, University of Southern Philippines Foundation, UP Cebu, Kongreso ng Pagkakais ng Maralita ng Lungsod (KPML), Philippine Earth Justice Center, Redemptorist Center for Social Concerns, United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), Action for Nurturing Children and Environment (ANCE), Save Sibonga Movement, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, Human Rights Defenders, Cebu Chamber of Commerce, NAPNACI-Naga, CASE-Naga, USREP-D, KLARAI-Carcar, CNU-SSG, SIFPO and Padilla Review Center.
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