Collect P2.56B from Next Mobile, Ridon tells NTC

A public policy think tank has prodded the National Telecommunications Commission to seek an early resolution by the Supreme Court of its bid to collect over P126 million from a telecommunications firm, citing the urgency of raising public funds to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former Representative Terry Ridon, convenor of Infrawatch PH, said the amount to be collected from the Next Mobile INc., previous corporate name of NOW Telecom Company Inc., has already ballooned to over P2.56 billion, citing a Commission on Audit report.

Ridon, a lawyer, advised the NTC to immediately file before the SC a Motion for Early Resolution of the pending petition of NOW Telecoms for a reversal of a Court of Appeals decision on the collection issue that the CA resolved over ten years ago.

The former lawmaker, a former member of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises, said the appellate court had affirmed NTC’s letter-assessments for the payment of supervision and regulation fees and spectrum user’s fees that has reached P126,094,195.67 andP9,6574,190.00, respectively NOW Telecoms.

He noted that in 2019, COA’s annual report for NTC brought up the collection issue, saying that the agency’s “protested” receivables had amounted over P3.304 billion, of which only four cases comprise P3.216 billion or 97.3 percent of the entire amount.

“With the coronavirus crisis reaching unprecedented levels, every agency’s contribution to the public coffers is a paramount obligation. With an immediate resolution of NOW’s appeal, the government stands to gain an additional P2,566,410,944.99 (P2.566 Billion) in fresh funds to address the pandemic,” Ridon said.

“This is based on NTC’s 12 October 2020 communication to NOW Telecom which stated the company’s standing financia; obligation to the regulator. For context, this amount can cover crisis subsidies benefiting at least 641,500 households.”

Ridon stressed the urgency of pursuing such an initiative.

“Relating NTC’s total receivables to NOW’s account, the telco’s obligations constitute at least 77.6-percent of the regulator’s total receivables. As such, resolving the SC appeal is imperative, not only from a revenue standpoint, but also from an audit standpoint,” said the Infrawatch convenor.

He urged the NTC to undertake immediate action on this matter in order to allow the regulator to deal with other receivables as well, which amounts to around P650-Million.

“Every peso which every agency contributes to the national fight against the coronavirus is important. By collecting the remaining P650-Million, the amount can provide crisis funding for 162,500 families.”