POE TO HOLD FINAL HEARING ON THIRD TELCO ON JAN. 30

Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the Senate public services committee, will conduct its fourth and final hearing on the franchise of the third telco the government has awarded to the Mislatel consortium.

The hearing, which will be held at the Recto-Laurel rooms in the Philippine Senate at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, January 30, will tackle House Concurrent Resolution No. 23 transferring the franchise of Mislatel to the consortium that bagged the third telco slot.

"Our committee needs to settle the issue of Mislatel's franchise for the public good. We need to hear the positions of various agencies and our fellow senators on this matter and we will come up with our position soonest," said Poe.

The issue of Mislatel having a valid franchise has been under scrutiny after senators pointed out that the franchise that Congress has granted in 1998 has been considered revoked because of the firm's non-operation and failure to notify legislators of the ownership change some four years ago.

The panel is expected to release its committee report next week.

The committee has invited Acting Sec. Eliseo Rio Jr. of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Sec. Menardo Guevarra of the Department of Justice, Solicitor-General Jose Calida, Chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba of the National Telecommunications Commission, Chairperson Arsenio Balisacan of the Philippine Competition Commission and Chairman Emilio Aquino of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Atty. Abdiel Dan Fajardo, Integrated Bar of the Philippines president, Atty. Ma. Soledad Mawis, chair of the Philippine Association of Law Schools and dean of the Lyceum of the Philippines University College of Law were also invited to the hearing.

Angkas

The panel will also discuss Senate Resolution No. (SRN) 993 urging the government to consider allowing motorcycles to operate as public transport especially in Metro Manila where traffic situation is bad.

"It is high time that RA 4136, a law that is more than 55 years old, be scrutinized," Poe said in the resolution.

PITX

SRN 954 regarding the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange as well as SRN 955 on trucking concerns will also be discussed.