‘This is the worst’: Senate hearing on PH internet suspended over connectivity issues
MANILA, Philippines — “This is the worst.”
A Senate public services committee hearing into the status of internet service in the country on Wednesday took an ironic turn after it suffered connectivity issues.
Senator Grace Poe, chair of the committee, opted to suspend the hearing earlier as planned after resource persons had trouble with their internet connection.
“I would like to continue this hearing after we thresh out this problem with our connection. It’s quite ironic, again, that we are having connectivity issues in a hearing on connectivity,” Poe pointed out.
“So, it’s just telling the situation in our country today and how we are trying to cope with this new requirement that we all need to have fulfilled,” she added.
At one point, Senator Nancy Binay inquired about the internet speed at the Senate building in Pasay City.
“Kung ano man ‘yung mbps [megabyte per second] natin, apparently it’s not good enough because we’re having problems with our connection,” Binay said.
“To share, because I’ve attended several online hearings, I think yung committee hearing mo today yung pinakamasama yung signal,” Binay then quipped to Poe.
Poe agreed, saying that her hearing was the “worst.”
“Di ba? Alam mo, I think sinasabutahe to e,” she said, adding that she would invite the resource persons to physically attend her succeeding hearings if needed.
“Akala niyo titigilan ko kayo, If I have to require your physical presence here next time I will. This is the worst actually, I have attended a few hearings too, and the last hearing of [Senator Sherwin Gatchalian] the one that couldn’t connect was NTC [National Telecommunications Commission],” she added.
She was referring to the virtual hearing conducted by the Gatchalian’s committee on the country’s shift to online learning, an official from the NTC was not able to participate in due to “technical issues.”
“Anything that had to do with technical topics, ‘yun pa yung nagkakaproblema,” Poe went on.
