Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon lied in his claim the franchise of Mindanao Islamic Telephone Co. Inc. (Mislatel) was revoked, acting Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. said yesterday.

“That is far from the truth,” Rio said in a social media post.

“NTC took much effort in doing its due diligence to make sure that all requirements of the memorandum circular (MC on the creation of the third telco) are complied with,” Rio said.

DICT, in a statement, said the Mislatel consortium “will continue completing its post-qualification requirements to obtain its Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN).”

Drilon at a recent Senate hearing on the third telco said the selection process of DICT was faulty as Mislatel “had no valid franchise as required by the Terms of Reference since its franchise is ipso facto revoked.”

Social media posts also stated efforts are being exerted to frustrate the entry of a competitor to the duopoly of Smart Communications and Globe Telecoms based on the order of President Rodrigo Duterte to force the lowering of charges and improvement of services in the telecommunications market.

A Mislatel spokesman also insisted the company has a valid legislative franchise to operate and deliver communication services.

Only a petition filed before the courts can cause a revocation of its franchise, lawyer Adel Tamano, Mislatel spokesman, said.

“Mislatel has a franchise which was granted by Congress. We have a certification. It is clear in the decisions of the Supreme Court that a franchise cannot just be revoked. You need to file an action for quo warranto before a franchise is revoked,” Tamano said.

Tamano added businessman Dennis Uy who controls the local firms behind Mislatel did not ask for any favor from government to secure the third telco player slot.

“Dennis Uy did not seek any favor to be awarded the third telco. It was conducted through open bidding, thus there was no rigging,” he said.

The DICT also underlined its commitment for an “objective, transparent, and legal process of entry of a new major player (NMP)” in the telecommunications sector.

“With this, the DICT is trusting the wisdom of the Congress to decide on the validity of Mislatel’s franchise, which was at the center of the Senate Committee on Public Services’ questioning last 24 January,” the agency said in a statement.

“We are confident that our representatives from both Houses would keep the public interest in mind in resolving the matter,” it added.

The DICT said it “is ready to accept the decision of Congress on the issue of the NMP and act accordingly to make sure that the Filipinos get a third player that they deserve, may it be Mislatel or another.”

Based on the report of NTC during the Senate hearing, Mislatel already secured Philippine Competition Commission approval of the Bidding Agreement Implementation and the Securities and Exchange Commission clearance on the terms of Bidding Agreement as being compliant with foreign equity ownership.

“They have until 17 February 2019 to furnish the NTC a copy of their Business Plan, Authentication/Consularization of Foreign Documents and Roll Out Plan,” the DICT stated.

“Despite legal and technical hurdles, the DICT remains optimistic that it will soon deliver its promise of a competitive telecommunications industry to the public,” it added.

Rio said the Supreme Court (SC) already issued a ruling that since the telco franchise was a “property right” there must be “due process for it to be revoked.”

“The truth is that so many telcos may have in one way or another ‘violated’ their franchises, but without due process, none of these franchises has been actually revoked,” Rio said.

He added if all franchises could be revoked without due process, the whole telecom industry would “fold up.”

“If we now consider them revoked without due process as what Senator Drilon would want to do with Mislatel, contrary to the Supreme Court decision that revocation of franchises can only be done through a quo warranto action, then our whole Telecom industry will fold up, bringing us back to the Dark Ages,” he said.