Bayantel Telecommunications and Globe Telecom
seek for the dismissal of the PLDT-filed case for “utter lack of merit” at the
Court of Appeals (CA).
In the Joint Rejoinder of Bayan-Globe to the
17th Division of the CA last October 30, both telcos also asked the
CA to correspondingly lift the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) it issued last
October 9 against NTC and to deny the granting of a writ of preliminary
injunction.
In the said Joint Rejoinder, Globe maintains
that PLDT’s “pushing its ‘bully’s agenda’ on flimsy grounds
shows it will stop at nothing to prevent a five-billion peso (Php
5,000,000,000) rehabilitation effort by Globe from seeing the light of day”.
Globe also insists that “ironically, petitioner (PLDT) has the audacity to pontificate
that Bayantel and Globe are the ones conspiring ‘to create an
anti-competitive environment’ in the telco industry”.
Bayan-Globe showed the CA that PLDT’s
overstated right to be protected has no basis since Bayan’s rehabilitation will
simply put back a far third player on its feet – not becoming “unfair
competition” at all.
Bayan’s co-use of its radio frequencies with
Globe “are not at all inimical to petitioner PLDT nor to the industry or the
subscribing public as they will not only mean the success of Bayan’s
rehabilitation but a benefit for the rapidly expanding consumer market by
empowering them with more choices and faster and better products and services”.
“Furthermore, there is no issue on the need
for a Congressional approval with the alleged franchise transfer since what is
being transferred are only Bayan’s shares of stock and not its franchise.” The joint petition also cited the Supreme
Court ruling in the case “PLDT v. NTC”, that the “transfers of shares of a
public utility corporation need only NTC approval, not Congressional
authorization”.
Industry pundits recall that the naked
monopolistic power that PLDT would exercise over the budding telco industry was
unshackled by the telecoms deregulation law – RA 7925 – only for this law to be
continuously frustrated by PLDT’s damaging adventures like its latest tactics
in preventing Bayan, its employees and current customers from realizing the
fruits of the Pasig RTC – approved rehabilitation plan.