Competition will help lower the price and improve the quality of Internet service in the country, Senator Benigno Paulo Aquino said on Sunday.
Aquino, chairman of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, lamented that aside from being costly, Internet service in the Philippines is very slow.
“We need more than three telcos to have a healthy competition. We should look at other countries aside from China,” noted Aquino.
Aquino is currently working on Senate Bill No. 171 or the Open Access in Data Transmission Act of 2016.
If enacted into law, the proposal will enable more players into and promote competition in the Internet industry.
Aquino said he has been working to improve the quality of Internet in the country. In the 16th Congress, he spearheaded an investigation into the slow and expensive internet in the country during his stint as chairman of the Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship.
The probe helped determine needed legislation to address the internet problem in the country and led to the release of a Department of Justice opinion on telco advertising.
The hearing also compelled the National Telecommunications Commission to come out with guidelines on minimum Internet speeds and conducted speed testing in various areas of the Philippines to check compliance of telcos.
The opposition senator also pushed for the passage of Republic Act 10929 or the Free Internet Access Program in Public Places as principal sponsor.
At the same time, Aquino renewed his push to suspend the excise tax on fuel under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law, saying the high prices of fuel also drive up cost of agricultural products.
He said the government, especially the Department of Agriculture, should recognize fuel increase as one of the main reasons for price increase.
He insisted that suspending the excise tax on petroleum products could help lower prices of fuel, which in turn, would contribute to the lowering of prices of agricultural products.
He has filed a measure seeking to roll back of TRAIN’s excise tax on fuel when average inflation rate surpasses the annual inflation target over a three-month period.
In addition, he is also working for the full implementation of mitigating measures under the TRAIN Law, such as the unconditional cash transfer program for poor families and the Pantawid Pasada for jeepney operators and drivers.