Duterte wants Chinese telco running by early 2018

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has instructed two executive agencies to ensure that a third telecom provider will be up and running by the first quarter of 2018.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that the president had directed the the Department of Information and Communications Technology and National Telecommunications Commission to approve all applications and licenses within seven days upon submission.

"If it is not approved within seven days, it is deemed approved. That’s how serious the president is on the entry of a third telecoms player," Roque said in a televised press briefing.

Asked whether the government is rushing the addition of another telecom provider in the Philippines, Roque said that the country "desperately" needs a "better" telecom provider.

Roque said that acting DICT Secretary Eliseo Rio assured him that the agency will be transparent in the bidding process.

"The public will know what's happening. [Officer-in-charge] Rio has assured me only this morning of absolute transparency in this regard," he said.

PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar earlier revealed that China Telecom would become the third player in the country's telecom industry, backed by a consortium of Filipino businesses.

The Chinese telco, however, would only own 40 percent while a consortium of Filipino companies would own the remaining 60 percent, Roque said.

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Foreign policy under the Duterte administration has seen a shift in focus from the United States to China, with the president markedly praising Beijing in public remarks and threatening to cut off the country's longstanding ties with Washington over the past year.