Bill to provide telcos reprieve from permits
A proposal that will enable telecommunications companies (telcos) to build cell site towers without seeking permits from local entities has been adopted by the bicameral conference committee.
The proposal, presented by Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, gives telcos three permit-free years to ramp up the installation of the towers.
The bicameral panel took up the proposal during its first meeting Friday to merge the versions of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the proposed Bayanihan 2 measure, the government’s coronavirus response program.
Drilon said the maze of requirements for building cell site towers remains “the biggest stumbling block for more reliable and faster internet and telecommunication services in the country.”
He noted that 29 to 35 documentary requirements and permits are needed even before a single tower could be built in a subdivision, barangay (village) or town.
The permits include consent of the neighbors, barangay resolution, certificate of noncoverage, zoning clearance, height clearance, radiation evaluation studies, building permit, a city or municipal resolution, occupancy permit, mayor’s permit, and a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ National Integrated Protected Areas System.
If a homeowners’ association refuses to issue a permit, a referendum supervised by the barangay council will be called to decide the issue, Drilon said.
“With this amendment, we can address this very complex process that hinders the country from being at par with our neighboring countries in terms of internet speed and connectivity. It is deplorable that the Philippines continues to have one of the slowest internet connections in Southeast Asia and even among Asia Pacific countries,” Drilon said.
Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala of Globe Telecom Inc. lauded Drilon’s proposal.
Globe Telecom is one of the country’s two giant telcos, the other being Smart Communications Inc.
“Thank you for the extraordinary addition of simplifying the permits needed for telco infrastructure into the law. I cannot tell you how important this is. A very big thank you from all of us in the industry,” Zobel de Ayala said in a text message to Drilon.
“In the face of a pandemic, having reliable telecommunication would play a vital role in our transitioning to what they call a new normal, by providing continued access to government services and maintaining business operations,” Drilon said.
“Internet today has become a basic commodity. It is a tool that we can utilize for work and education as we deal with the pandemic. Many businesses today are heavily dependent on the internet. Hence, we must do everything to improve our telecommunication infrastructure which telcos have agreed to readily provide,” he said.
“The three-year reprieve period will give telcos sufficient time to complete the infrastructure required to improve their services,” Drilon said.
The senator also proposed a provision, which says that “no court, except the Supreme Court, shall issue any temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction against the construction of telecommunications infrastructure, including cell sites and cell towers.”
President Rodrigo Duterte had lashed out at Globe and Smart for allegedly failing to improve their services and gave them until the end of the year to shape up.
The telcos said massive red tape was delaying their projects, and that it takes years to acquire clearances and permits to build cell sites and towers.
Source: TheManila Times
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