DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The new administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte will respect the sanctity of contracts, incoming Department of Transportation and Telecommunications Secretary Arthur Tugade said, sending a wave of assurance among beleaguered telecommunications companies.
“We have to honor contracts,” incoming Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II also said in reply to a businessman’s question on the incoming government’s view regarding protecting contracts with the private sector, which usually affect business’ ability to enter into contracts with the government.
“Unless the contract violates specific law, then the contract is valid and must be honored at all times,” Aguirre said.
“All contracts, as a matter of course will have to be honored,” Tugade also said.
“We will assume that the contracts are in order, but in cases when there are provisions in the contract that are found to be spurious, those spurious provisions should be addressed separately but the contract will have to be honored; it will have to be honored,” Tugade said.
The businessman, who belonged to the information technology sector, said Tugade and Aguirre’s answers would reassure large telcos.
He did not name a particular telecom firm but the Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Company (PLDT), which runs the big telecom firm Smart Communications Inc., has recently been questioning the decision of anti-trust body Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) to do a comprehensive review of the contract signed between PLDT and Globe Telecom to buy San Miguel Corporation (SMC)’s telecom firm Vega Telecom Inc. for P69.1 billion, before the contract can be approved.
The telecom firms signed the deal only four days before the implementation of the new anti-trust law’s guidelines. TVJ