Konektadong Pinoy Bill raises red flags

MANILA, Philippines — The Institute for Risk and Strategic Studies (Salceda Research) yesterday reiterated its support for the goal of universal, affordable and reliable internet access, but warned that the Konektadong Pinoy Bill in its current form will create perverse incentives, undermine infrastructure sustainability and strip away critical layers of public accountability.

Salceda Research chair Joey Salceda said the bill’s own advocates have now confirmed that it will open the market to predominantly capital light operators. Salceda warned that without binding obligations on repair, maintenance and co-investment, these operators could expand rapidly in profitable areas while leaving the long-term upkeep of the national network to incumbents and eventually to taxpayers.

“If you remove the franchise requirement for data-only providers but keep it for landline operators, the market will simply abandon landline service altogether. That will mean the end of the country’s most disaster-resilient fallback network. Once landlines are gone and a storm disables cell towers and satellite ground stations, we will have lost our last independent line of communication,” Salceda said.

Salceda also described as “extremely odd” the framing by advocates that public listing is merely an investor privilege.

“Public listing is not about investor perks. It is about disclosure, governance and transparency. For something as critical as national data infrastructure, these safeguards are essential. Listing forces operators to show, in public and on the record, whether they are investing enough in repairs, replacements and rural expansion. Without it, we are flying blind,” Salceda added.

The group stressed that franchising, co-investment obligations and public listing each serve as separate layers of accountability. Removing franchising and rejecting listing removes two of these layers at once.

Salceda warned, “If this bill passes in its current form, it will effectively end the congressional power to grant franchises for a major public utility sector. That is not just a procedural change. It is the loss of public hearings, formal oversight, enforceable coverage conditions and direct legislative recourse when operators fail to deliver. Once these safeguards are gone, they will not be easily restored.”

Salceda Research said it is willing to work with lawmakers and stakeholders to make the bill airtight before it is passed into law. This means including enforceable coverage obligations, co-investment requirements, repair responsibilities, public listing for transparency and clear enforcement standards.