WHEN YOU EXPECT about 15 bidders to submit their bids for the 3rd Telco and only three submitted and then the two are subsequently disqualified, then there must be something odious that happened along the way to the bid venue. The process was transparent, as the cliche goes, and I too admire the creative strategy of some lawyers in black that directs the bidding committee. Early the following morning Spox Sal Panelo issued a statement that would shield the President from unkind innuendos, the probationary winner UDENNA being from Davao and where the President resides. But of course.
But the search is far from over. Industry players are questioning Mislatel, the vehicle used by UDENNA for the 3rd Telco bid, is now under close scrutiny. Looks like Mislatel, the vehicle used by UDENNA and China Telecom, has very serious problems with the validity of its franchise.
I must confess that I have mixed emotions about what is happening in the search for the 3rd Telco. Being from Davao, I am overwhelmed by the announcement that UDENNA was declared provisional New Major Player and the top honcho, Dennis Uy, is Davao-based. On the one hand I worked with Philippine Telegraph & Telephone Corporation for the good 23 years of my life as head of its Mindanao operations. Torn between two lovers so to speak, I could only say… may the best firm wins.
PT&T was disqualified because, according to the National Telecommunications Commission the company has no experience operating nationwide. Unless the members of the bid and selection committee were not born yet in 1962 or mere toddlers for the duration of 56 years from then on when PT&T was operating nationwide and all the way when when the government mandated that Telcos should operate on assigned regions thereafter, then I would accept their allegation that PT&T has no experience operating nationally. However this is not the case for up til now it has extensive fiber optic network in Region IV-A, the National Capital Region and all the way to Pampanga.
It would have been a cinch for PT&T to get a foreign partner as some aspirants who have less than 10 or ZERO years experience did moreover given its intensive and extensive experience in national and regional operations the need for a foreign partner to qualify is superfluous. The Terms of Reference talks of regional and national scale operations as qualifying criteria but was altered in the bid document where it states that regional operations only applies to foreign operators. The alteration of what was specified in the law was very substantive and this cannot just be dismissed as a simple issue. Any which way you look at it PT&T has national and regional experience which other aspirants virtually lack. The option was to win the bid and then look for a foreign partner which is good for the country especially in terms of security. PT&T is no longer hobbled by financial issue and it has a financial muscle under its new owners- the Zamora group.
PT&T’s hurdle is a question of law while UDENNA predicament is a question of fact. Meantime the clock ticks. Pres. Xi Jinping is coming to town expecting to see not only the ubiquitous mosquito net in the frugal bedroom of Pres. Duterte but also the signing ceremonies of big ticket projects that include the 3rd Telco project which features China Telecom as part of the consortium. As to whether this partnership will succeed is another story given some disturbing developments that are unfolding from day to day. (Jun Ledesma)
20
