MANILA, Philippines -- Malacañang will ask the Department of Transportation and Communication (NTC) and the National Telecommunications Commission (DoTC) to explain the supposed mix-up over the 50 percent reduction in text messaging, which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had announced in her State of the Nation Address, an official said Wednesday.

Cerge Remonde, chief of the Presidential Management Staff, said he would talk to the DoTC and NTC about the controversy.

During her speech before Congress on Monday, Arroyo announced that telecommunications firms have agreed to lower their short message service (SMS) charge to P.50 from P1.

But as it turned out, the reduction was actually a cross-network promotion that started July 28 and will end on October 22, according to officials of the local telecommunications firms.

?Ang pagkaintindi ni GMA [Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo], ibang discount on interconnection charge outside of what was offered by the telecom firms [What Arroyo understood was the discount on interconnection charge was outside what had been offered by the telecom firms],? Remonde said.

Remonde said it was the DoTC and NTC officials that had asked the President to include the announcement in her SONA although he admitted that they did not directly talk to her about the matter.