PT&T vows to honor commitment on 3rd telco issue

Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (PT&T), which was disqualified during the third telco bid opening on Nov. 7, said it would continue to honor a commitment not to pursue any legal maneuver to stop the selection process.

In a statement over the weekend, PT&T said it had made an undertaking not to resort to any injunctive to relief or temporary restraining order.

“PT&T has and will continue to honor that undertaking,” PT&T said, adding that it had sought no TRO from the Supreme Court in its Nov. 16, 2018 filing seeking to overturn its disqualification. Last month, Mislatel Consortium, whose members include businessman Dennis A. Uy’s Udenna Corp. and China Telecom, was named the provisional third telco. The latter’s victory was assured when two other bidders, PT&T and Sear Consortium, were disqualified by the third telco selection committee.

PT&T noted in its statement that the third telco selection committee “acted with grave abuse of discretion and beyond its jurisdiction when it revised the terms of reference in regard to technical capability by applying only to foreign telcos the rule that having a regional scale of telecommunications operations for the last 10 years qualifies as operations on a national scale. “

“PT&T’s petition with the Supreme Court seeks the issuance of a writ of certiorari to annul PT&T’s illegal and unjust disqualification and set aside the unwarranted selection of the Mislatel Consortium. A Certiorari is defined as a writ issued by a superior court for the examination of an action of a lower court,” PT&T noted.

PT&T argued that the selection rules should be applied “without distinction or discrimination to both local and foreign telcos.”

It alleged that further clarificatory bulletins from the selection committee amounted to changing the rules midstream.

It further assailed the NTC as it alleged that the telco regulator “for almost three weeks sat on PT&T’s request for a certificate of technical capability and denied it on the eve of the last day for the submission of that certificate to the NMP Selection Committee.” It raised this point amid questions over the validity of Mislatel’s franchise holder.

“The process of its petition in the SC will entail a proper hearing. The selection of the NMP is of transcendental importance in the Philippine telecommunications market and ultimately, the digital Filipino. PT&T is hopeful that it will be considered by the Highest Court in due time or hopefully soonest,” PT&T said in its statement.