A consumer group has raised issues against the pending Senate Bill 2699, or the Konektadong Pinoy Act, as certain provisions of the proposed legislation are reportedly open to abuse by digital scammers.

According to Bantay Konsyumer, Kalsada, Kuryente  (BK3), the proposed measure – which seeks to limit or remove the oversight functions of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) – will close the door for consumers to bring up their grievances against inefficiency of foreign service providers.

“It is worrisome that under the pending Konektadong Pinoy Act there is an intention to reduce or eliminate the NTC's regulatory and oversight functions, if that happens and consumers will have nowhere to complain about bad service, or shortcomings of new industry players,” said BK3 convenor lawyer Karry Sison.

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, author of SB 2699, had earlier said that the open access bill was aimed at improving the access to fast and affordable connectivity nationwide and offers no requirement for legislative franchise for new telco player and also encourages sharing of infrastructure among telecom companies and overseeing the allocation and use of radio spectrums.

The BK3 convenor said that before allowing the new telco players to bypass rigid and exacting trade requirements, the government must first ensure that there would be no cybercriminals and scammers that could adversely affect the consumers’ interest.

“The government must first make sure that cybercriminals cannot enter the internet to harm consumers and businesses, and even the security of our country,” said Sison. “Loosening policies too much can cause more problems than solutions.”