gracie7

What's the connection among your slow internet in the Philippines, the Marcos dictatorship and candidate Grace Poe? Be patient and I'll connect the dots. (saw this on FB -- https://www.facebook.com/ruben.carra...53622703369671)

It's not because of the Smart/Globe duopoly. If that were so, those two would profit more if either one of them could provide faster internet. But the fastest internet frequency is inaccessible to both. Why? It's because the fastest frequency is monopolized and controlled by San Miguel/Danding Cojuangco/Ramon Ang. Who owns this frequency? Liberty Telecoms. Who owns Liberty? Ramon Ang/Danding Cojuangco. Who was the original owner of Liberty Telecoms? Raymond Moreno. Who is Moreno? A military contractor during the Marcos dictatorship. Who is/was Moreno's business partner? The chief of the Marcos military, Fabian Ver. (Both were sued for their corruption during the dictatorship: Moreno by the US government, Ver in the Philippines)

So why doesn't Liberty just go ahead and compete with Globe and Smart then? Because they don't have access to enough capital and technology that it takes. They were going to get Australia's Telstra. (And why an Australian company? Because that's where Danding Cojuangco has parked the bulk of his assets.) But Telstra knew what many Filipinos distracted by the political circus and telenovelas don't think much about: that Ramon Ang's 'capital' isn't money but political power. And Telstra won't risk billions that it can't recover if that political power isn't guaranteed (which explains why Telstra wanted Ramon Ang to guarantee it would recover its money if they failed to get all the regulatory and infrastructure requirements that require political power to accomplish). So what's Ramon Ang's alternative? How can Danding Cojuangco ensure that Liberty keeps its monopolized internet frequency? And tempt foreign money to come in and partner with him (without risking money he doesn't have enough of)? And be able to 'assure' a foreign investor like Telstra that he has the kind of political power to 'guarantee' their monopoly and their profits forever? Through a constitutional amendment of course. So there you go: the candidate who said she she won't give Cojuangco any advantage is already promising to do it even before she can get herself elected. The bonus in all of this: someone's spouse works as an IT consultant for Liberty Telecoms. His name is Neil Llamanzares.

(And if I know much about Marcos, Cojuangco and Ver and the Marcos dictatorship, it's because I pursued their ill gotten wealth as PCGG Commissioner. But what do I know about telecoms regulation? From 1995-1999 I practiced law - and a large part of that practice was litigating at the National Telecommunications Commission. Di ba Gigo Alampay, Mr. Competition Commission? smile emoticon Disclosure: I represented PLDT on telecoms cases at the NTC. Next disclosure: as PCGG Commissioner, I helped recover PLDT shares acquired unlawfully by the Marcos family. And if I'm wrong about something in any of this, happy to be corrected - by Ellecer Valencia for example -- or to debate it.)