Poe to endorse remedial legislation to amend Public Service Act

Sen. Grace Poe. Photo by Cathy Miranda/INQUIRER.net

Senator Grace Poe is set to endorse a remedial legislation to amend the 81-year-old Public Service Act, in a bid to solve the country’s restrictive economic environment, provide more jobs and ensure reasonable rates of services.

Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public services, said the proposed amendments seek to address the confusion in the definition of a public utility and public services, which hampered economic growth for several decades.

“Foreign entities would be allowed to come in and invest. The goal is to increase competition, provide better quality services and also to create jobs,” Poe said during the hearing on Thursday.

According to Poe, the 1987 Philippine Constitution restricts operation of a public utility to companies whose ownership is at least 60 percent Filipino-owned.

Commonwealth Act No. 146 or the Public Service Act passed in 1936, she said, only provides a list and not a definition of public services and no definition of a public utility.

Thus, the senator foreign equity restrictions also apply to public utilities like telecommunications, electricity, water and transportation, among others.

Poe said without a clear definition of public utilities, full realization of economic growth is crippled.

Currently, electricity (distribution and transmission), water, transportation, telecommunications and other essential services fall under the foreign equity rule mandated by the Constitution.

After the reform, however, only the electric power distribution and transmission, water pipeline distribution and sewerage pipeline system are restricted.

“Sa pag-amyenda ng PSA, magkakaroon ang taumbayan ng mas maraming mapagpipiliang public service providers. Magpaligsahan sila at makapagbigay ng de kalidad na serbisyo at produkto sa pinakamababang presyo at maraming trabaho para sa ating mamamayan,” said Poe.

(In amending the PSA, our countrymen will have a lot of public service providers to choose from. They will compete to provide quality services and products in low prices and generate jobs for our people.) /jpv