FILE PHOTO: Alliance of Concerned Teachers Rep. France Castro. | PHOTO: Official facebook page of ACT Teachers Party-List
MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker urged Globe Telecom, Incorporated to reconsider the P50 fee that it will charge to postpaid subscribers who are late in paying their phone bills.
Globe said on Wednesday that the fee will be implemented starting December.
In a statement on Thursday, House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Representative France Castro said the fee will add burden to poor Filipinos.
“Almost half of Filipino families or around 13.2 million families consider themselves poor based on the latest Social Weather Station (SWS) survey and Globe will add another fee such as this,” Castro expressed disgust.
“Internet and cellular communication now is no longer a luxury but a necessity in this day and age,” she stressed.
“It is a public utility that should be primarily for the public good, and not mainly for profit,” she said.
“Sana ay pakinggan ng Globe ang panawagang ito ng mga subscribers nila at para di na rin gumaya ang iba pang telcos,” Castro noted.
(I hope Globe will listen to this call from their subscribers so that other telcos will not follow their step.)
“Kapag ito ang mangyari ay malamang na imbestigahan namin ito sa Kongreso,” she warned.
(When this happens, we will probably investigate it in Congress.)
For this reason, Castro also asked senators to fast-track their version of Committee Report 736.
This report will mandate telecom companies and internet service to give refunds to customers for service outages and disruptions.
“Kapag sila pumapalpak at madalas itong mangyari ay sorry na lang, pero kapag subscriber ang mahuhuli ng konti sa bayad ay may multa agad,” she made the comparison.
(When they fail in their service, and this happens often, they are sorry, but when the subscriber is a little behind in the payment, there is an immediate fine.)
INQUIRER.net is seeking the side of Globe on the matter.
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