Big Telco Lobby fund behind Tax on Text Bill?

A source in the House of Representatives, who asked that her identity be strictly be confidential, says that days before the House Committee approved the much ballyhooed House Bill 6625 which imposes a 5 centavo excise tax on every text, video and audio clips sent via mobile phones, five Congressmen reportedly met with legal representatives of the following telcos, namely: Smart, Globe and Sun, to remove the "no pass on" provision of the bill. The meeting was held in a hotel in Quezon City.

Yesterday, big telcos such as Smart and Globe decried the bill, saying that the measure is the "worst anti-consumer" bill ever made while Smart worries about the impact this bill will have on its poor customers.

The bill, originally authored by Ilocos sur rep. Eric Singson, proposes to tax telcos 5 centavos per text. Singson said this will generate close to 20 billion pesos for the government, to be used in its anti-poverty programs. In a spectacular turnaround, the House committee chaired by no less than Quezon rep. Danilo Suarez omitted the " no pass on" provision of the tax measure which would make texting services one of the most expensive in the region.

The Philippines has about 70 million mobile phone subscribers, of which more than 80% are pre-paid subscribers. The bill, says Cong. Omeng Plaza, will greatly impact this segment of the subscriber population. More than 2 billion texts are sent daily, making the country the biggest text country.

Yesterday, OFW crusader Susan Toots Ople denounced the tax measure as an unnecessary burden especially to OFWs who use text messaging in communicating with their loved ones. With about 10 million OFWs, Ople said this will create an unnecessary burden for the families of OFWs since this will make texting expensive.