Curing the defects of the Konektadong Pinoy Law through administrative action

By Joey Sarte Salceda – Salceda Research

The Konektadong Pinoy Law has taken effect by leave of the President. It was neither signed nor vetoed, but allowed to lapse.

The intent is sound—expand digital access—but the text is flawed. The task of correction now falls on the implementing agencies.

Regulatory Balance

The law creates two tracks. Legacy operators remain bound by franchises, while new data only providers face lighter rules.

This invites regulatory arbitrage and weakens landline services. The cure is a single regime. All providers must secure certificates of public convenience and necessity, meet service benchmarks, and disclose ownership.

Resilience

Landlines remain the most dependable during typhoons and earthquakes, yet the law’s structure could accelerate their decline.

The remedy is to require every licensee to maintain an emergency connectivity plan, whether through fixed lines, satellite, or other resilient systems.

Universal Access

The law imposes no duty to serve remote barangays. Market forces alone will not deliver coverage.

The rules can impose targets, tie renewals to rural rollout, and pool regulatory fees into a universal access fund. Infrastructure sharing should also be compulsory.

Governance

The law is silent on corporate governance. Without franchises, there is less scrutiny of ownership and commitments.

Agencies can require disclosure of beneficial owners and, for larger players, eventual listing in the Philippine Stock Exchange. Listing is not for capital but for continuous transparency and governance.

Oversight

The removal of franchises also removes direct congressional oversight. This gap can be narrowed if agencies compel providers to submit annual reports on coverage, pricing, and investments to Congress, and if the National Telecommunications Commission institutionalizes public hearings with proceedings shared to the legislature.

Conclusion

By leave of the President, the law now stands. It carries promise of wider connectivity but also risk of weaker resilience, equity, and accountability.

Through disciplined rulemaking, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) can cure its defects, restore balance, and secure the public interest.