HOUSE Speaker Heinz S. Hofschneider yesterday assured that the members of the lower chamber will not be divided on their position on the Verizon proposed purchase deal.
In an interview, Hofschneider said it is likely that the House’s official position on the purchase deal will be similar to the petition earlier sent by six House members to the Federal Communications Commission. He said the House’s official position will be released not later than July 2.
On June 17, Reps. Gloria DLC. Cabrera, R-Saipan, Stanley T. Torres, R-Saipan, Joseph P. Deleon Guererro, R-Saipan, Andrew S. Salas, R-Saipan, Benjamin Seman, R-Saipan, and House Floor Leader Jesus T. Attao, R-Saipan, sent a petition urging the FCC to deny the purchase proposal of Verizon’s local franchise by a consortium that includes Citadel and Tan Holdings.
According to the speaker, when he said that the petition was not the official position of the House, he was referring to the way it was sent to the FCC and not its content.
“ I don’t think that the House leadership will come up with a different position. My concern was that the approach in sending the petition was unorthodox because some procedures were not met. The petition should first (be reviewed) by the House legal counsel and then acted collectively or supported by the majority,” said Hofschneider, R-Saipan.
The petition sent by the six lawmakers, according to the speaker, contained legitimate concerns especially on the insufficient information about the consortium—the failure to fully disclose the identity of the new owners, what they are into and what are the promising expansions and services they could offer to the commonwealth.
It was stated in the petition that copies of the trust agreement between Verizon and the consortium and copies of the purchase agreement were not supplied to the Commonwealth Telecommunications Commission.
It also noted that the majority shareholder under the consortium, Prospector Investment Holdings, Inc., claims to have technical experience through its interest in Islacom which provided diverse telecommunications services in the Philippines until 1999. But Islacom was sold in 1999 “thus this expertise is no longer possessed by Prospector, nor directly by the purchaser.”
Hofschneider also clarified that when he cautioned against too much government interference in the sale of Verizon’s local franchise, he was referring to the government’s “interjection in terms of the preferences as to who should own Verizon next,” and not on sending the petition to the FCC.
