Drilon urges caution over security aspect of China Telecom deal

Sen. Franklin Drilon
(File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

While he welcomes the entry of a Chinese telecommunication company in the country, Senator Franklin Drilon urged the Duterte administration to exercise caution and look into the “security aspect” of the deal.

“We should exercise caution and the government should look into the security aspect of this undertaking,” Drilon said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The Chinese companies are state-owned while those operating in the Philippines are purely private. The Chinese government is already an investor in our national grid. The government should look into this matter,” he said.

Upon President Rodrigo Duterte’s orders, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) as well as the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will allow China Telecom to start operating in the Philippines by first quarter of 2018.

Drilon, however, said that given the current state of interconnectivity in the country, the entry of China Telecom is needed for “more competition.”

“The entry of a Chinese company into the local telecommunication industry is a welcome development given the present state and quality of the Internet and telecom services in the country, which is among the slowest in Asia,” he said. /je