By Estanislao Albano, Jr.

If the leadership of Congress will be true to their words, it looks like finally, the country will see bills meant to extract better Internet service from our callous telecommunication companies (telcos) budge from the committee level.
In news reports at the end of July 2017, the joint leadership of Congress declared that 38 pending bills are prioritized for enactment in the last quarter of the year. Included in the number are “Amendments to the Public Service Act.” Among the proposed amendments to the 81 year old law is House Bill No. 3996 which seeks to upgrade the ridiculous P200.00 a day penalty for erring public service companies set in the Public Service Act of 1936 and likewise Senate Bill No. 697 which excludes telecommunications from the list of public service industries thereby allowing 100 percent foreign ownership of players in the sector. The point of the bill is to break up the telecommunications duopoly.
But going by their cold feet on any measure that could hurt the telcos in the past two Congresses and how in the current term, bills of these nature are all marooned in the committee for more than a year now, I have grave doubts that the agreement among the leaders of Congress to include amendments to the Public Service Act in their priority measures for this year will eventually improve the Internet experience of Filipinos.
In the 15th Congress, the Senate Bill No. 964 authored by Senator Lito Lapid titled “Internet Universal Access and Liberalization Act of 2010” remained pending with the committee until the adjournment. Among other purposes, the bill would have allowed all telcos to operate in any area of their choice on condition that they serve at least one provincial area where there is an equal demand for Internet access.
In the 16th Congress, the bills of Rep. Susan Yap and Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV both of which sought to increase the penalty for each violation of any certificate, authority, resolution or regulation of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) from P200.00 per day to a minimum of P300,000.00 per day were never touched after they were filed. What rankles is that during the 16th Congress, three bills changing the names of schools and two bills naming road stretches were passed. And of course, it was during the 16th Congress when our legislators indulged the country’s foolish and futile obsession with basketball by naturalizing American basketball player Andray Blatche.
Also considered by Congress of less significance to the country than the bills on names of roads and schools and the naturalization of Blatche was Senate Bill No. 2238 or the Bilis Konek Act of 2014 of Senator Ralph Recto which sought to mandate telcos to provide minimum download speed of 10 Mbps for mobile Internet access and 20 Mbps for fixed and fixed wireless Internet two years after passage.
Recto has since re-filed the bill in the 17th Congress where it is now known as Senate Bill No. 2238. It has been pending with the Committee on Public Service chaired by Senator Grace Poe since August 8, 2016.
Over at the House, Rep. Vilma Santos -Recto filed House Bill No. 1951 with the same intent as that of spouse Senator Recto’s Bilis Konek Act of 2016 on August 3, 2016. On the same day, the solon also filed House Bill No. 1946 which expands the coverage and strengthens the powers of the NTC. Among others, the bill seeks to remove Internet from the list of value added services thereby allowing the NTC “wider latitude on setting the minimum standards and parameters for pricing just like the other basic telecommunications services.” Both measures remain pending with the Committee on Information and Technology chaired by Rep. Victor Yap. Also pending with the same committee is Rep. Rufino Biazon’s House Bill No. 00019 mandating the NTC to require Internet service providers to deliver a minimum standard of 10 Mbps connection speed. The bill was filed on July 26, 2016.
By stark contrast, the Free Public Wifi Bills which were filed in both houses right after the opening of the 17th Congress became Republic Act No. 10929 on August 2, 2017 or just a bit over a year after filing. That’s because the law is purely a government concern and does not have an adverse effect on the telcos whatsoever. It should also be noted that proposed laws which threaten the interest of the telcos are usually authored by just a lawmaker but on the other hand, six senators and 19 congressmen tripped over each other to sponsor and push the Free Public Wifi Bills.
Premises considered and notwithstanding the words of the leadership of the two houses, I have grave doubts if the proposed amendments to the Public Service Act of 1936 inimical to the interest of the telcos will be passed this year or ever. Same with the other pending measures which passage will make the telcos unhappy. Either that or the measures will be so weakened the telcos and the public will practically feel no change as a result. For so long as our lawmakers individually and collectively are more concerned about not getting in the way of the telecommunication giants than in upholding the rights of the public to their money’s worth, it will be a miracle if a law easing the misery of Internet users in the country will be passed. **