Duterte tells telcos Smart and Globe to improve services before December

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 27) — During his fifth State of the Nation Address, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered telecommunications companies Smart and Globe to improve their services in the next five months or the country will do away with them.

"Kindly improve your services before December," he warned on Monday. "Tell us now if you cannot really improve on it, because I will work...The next two years will be spent improving the telecommunications of this country without you."

The President complained about the inconvenience he experienced using Smart and Globe lines.

"'Yung Smart pati itong Globe ilang taon na ito, at ang sagot palagi sa akin, 'The party cannot be reached', eh saan pala pumunta 'yung y**a na 'yun?," said Duterte in anger.

[Translation: This Smart and Globe, they have been here for how many years, and they always respond with 'The party cannot be reached'. Well, where did that devil go?]

He added that the two companies have been operating for years yet the public keeps getting "lousy" services and transactions.

"The patience of the Filipino is reaching its limit he said. I will be the one to articulate the anger of the Filipino people and you might not want what I intended to do with you."

"I want to call Jesus Christ to Bethlehem. Better have that line cleared," he added in jest.

In an interview with CNN Philippines’ Rico Hizon on Monday, Banco de Oro chief market strategist Jonathan Ravelas noted the President’s remarks against the two leading telco providers are timely because the people need to rely more on digital technologies in this time of less human interaction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These telcos will play an important role in eventually sustaining our economic viability,” Ravelas said.

The economist also emphasized the two telcos need to ramp up their connection services with this sudden shift in technological reliance, as the government awaits the entry of third telco player Dito Communications Inc. which is owned by known Duterte ally Dennis Uy.

This is not the first time the President warned telcos to provide better services. In 2016, after he won the presidential elections, he warned the companies that if they do not provide faster internet connection, foreign investors will be allowed to do the job.