NANINIWALA ang mga mamba batas na makaaapekto sa Senate bets ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ang towercos duopoly na isinusulong ni Presidential Adviser on Economic Affairs and Information Technology Commu nications Ramon Jacinto.
Ayon kay Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, hindi sang-ayon ang publiko sa iginigiit ni Jacinto na limitahan sa dalawa ang bilang ng pribadong kompanya na papayagang magtayo ng cell towers sa bansa.
“Bawas boto ‘yan sa mga kandidato ng Pangulo sa Senado. Alam kasi ng mga tao na ilegal ‘yan,” sabi ni Evardone.
Sinusugan naman ito nina Anakpawis partylist Rep. Ariel Casilao at QC 2nd District Rep. Winston Castelo at sinabing hindi papayagan ng taumbayan na maluklok sa Senado ang mga sumusuporta sa towercos duopoly.
Ani Casilao, batid ng mga botante na hindi makabubuti ang paglimita sa towercos dahil maaapektuhan nito ang pagseserbisyo sa publiko bukod pa sa magdidikta ito sa presyo ng kanilang serbisyo,
“These two new independent players that will be tapped to carry out the implementation of the common tower policy will just dictate on the price of their services which may be very disadvantageous to the public interest, and that is really very unfortunate,” sabi ni Casilao.
Maging ang advocacy groups at civil society ay nagpahayag ng pagtutol sa towercos duopoly ni Jacinto.
Ang Filipino League of Advocates for Good Governance (FLAG) ay nagsampa, ilang buwan na ang nakalili-pas, ng kaso laban kay RJ dahil sa “conflict of interest at sa ilegal na pagtutulak sa duopoly sa tower construction ng tinatayang 50,000 cell towers upang maserbisyuhan ang may 113 million telco subscribers sa bansa.”
Inihain ni FLAG founder Ed Cordevilla ang kaso kontra RJ sa Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission dahil sa umano’y dalawang paglabag, una ay laban sa Philippine Competition Act, RA 10667 at ang pangalawa ay kon-tra RA 6713.
“Presidential Adviser Ramon Jacinto is violating RA 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Pub-lic Officials and Employee, specifically Section 7a, which states that public officials and employees shall not direct-ly or indirectly have any financial or material interest in any transaction requiring the approval of their office”.
Sinabi ng FLAG na ang pamilya ni Jacinto ay nasa steel manufacturing, at ang naturang tower construction ay 100% na steel-based project. Ayon sa FLAG founder at presidente ng Ang Tao Muna at Bayan Partylist, ang katanungan sa moral fitness ni RJ ay lumalabag din sa RA 3019, o ang Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Sec. 3.
Idinagdag pa ng industry sources ang iba pang kaso ng kuwestiyonableng deals ni RJ. Batay sa record, inata-san ng Court of Appeals noong August, 2009 si Jacinto na ibalik sa PNB ang the Buendia property ng nasabing bangko makaraang mabigo si RJ na mabayaran ang kanyang loan na nagkakahalaga ng mahigit sa P6 billion.
“It turns out that, as records show, RJ actually reneged on his commitment to pay PNB P5.40 Billion and P841 Million for the three loans he borrowed. Firstly, the P2.94 Billion loan he borrowed (equivalent to 80 percent of the purchase price of the PNB Buendia property as security); secondly, through Rajah Broadcasting for P350 Million which he relent to RJ Ventures and thirdly, another P100 Million which was secured his radio network’s broadcast-ing equipment,” ayon pa sa source.
Ang isa pang financial mess ay ang paghahabla ng Department of Justice sa businessman-rocker ng paglabag sa bouncing check law, ang Batasang Pambansa Blg. (BP) 22 o ang Bouncing Checks Law.
“This indictment against RJ stemmed from the inability of the First Women’s Credit Corporation (FWCC), with RJ as its President, to pay for its loan, this time with the LBP. Despite a Restructuring Agreement, RJ, the petitioner, presented for payment to the drawee bank, the post-dated checks which were dishonored, according to the ABS-CBN News, for reason of ‘payment stopped’ or ‘drawn against insufficient funds. This prompted LBP to file as case for the violation of the same law, BP 22 before the Makati Prosecutor’s Office,” sabi pa ng source.
Bagama’t nadismis ang reklamo ng LBP sa City Prosecutor’s Office, binaligtad ito ng DOJ dahil sa ‘probable cause’ upang kasuhan si RJ ng paglabag sa BP 22.