FORMER Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio yesterday said a measure approved by the House of Representatives allowing foreigners to own public utilities in the Philippines is unconstitutional as it attempts to free telcos from the 60 percent Filipino ownership requirement of the Constitution.
House Bill No. 78 was passed by the House on March 10, a week before the Luzon region, including Metro Manila, was placed by President Duterte under strict enhanced community quarantine due to the spread of the coronavirus.
“That House bill, if approved by the Senate, will amend the Public Service Act to exclude telcos as public utilities which, under the Constitution, must at least be 60 percent Filipino-owned,” Carpio said, adding: “The framers of our Constitution, in discussing Section 11, Article XII of the Constitution requiring public utilities to be at least 60 percent Filipino-owned, expressly referred to telco companies.”
“Another provision of the Constitution, which is not covered in HB No. 78, also required telcos to be 60 percent Filipino-owned,” he added.
Carpio said telcos, which he noted cannot operate without utilizing radio frequencies, must also comply with Section 2, Article VII of the Constitution, which provides that “all natural resources are owned by the State. The State may directly (exploit such natural resources), or it may enter into co-production, joint venture, or production-sharing agreements with Filipino citizens, or corporations at least 60 percent of whose capital is owned by such persons.”
The retired legal luminary noted that if the amendment pushes through, China Telecom can already be the 100 percent owner of Dito Telecommunity, the third telco that the government has allowed to offer telecommunication services in the country to break the monopolies enjoyed by Smart and Globe. Dito Telecommunity is a partnership of Davao-based Udenna consortium and China’s State-owned telecom.
