MANILA, Philippines — A lawmaker has called on Globe Telecom, Inc. to reconsider its decision to impose a P50 fee on postpaid subscribers who are late in paying their phone bills. This fee is set to take effect in December, as announced by Globe on Wednesday.
House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Representative France Castro voiced her concerns on Thursday, stating that the additional charge would be a heavy burden on poor Filipinos. According to the latest Social Weather Station (SWS) survey, nearly half of Filipino families, approximately 13.2 million, consider themselves poor. Castro expressed her dismay, highlighting that internet and cellular communication are essential services in today’s world, not luxuries.
“It is a public utility that should prioritize public good over profit,” Castro emphasized. She urged Globe to heed the concerns of their subscribers to prevent other telecom companies from implementing similar charges.
“If this happens, we will likely investigate it in Congress,” Castro warned. She also called on senators to expedite their version of Committee Report 736, which would require telecom companies and internet service providers to issue refunds for service outages and disruptions.
“When telecom companies fail to provide consistent service, they simply apologize, but when a subscriber is slightly late on payment, they are immediately fined,” Castro pointed out, highlighting the disparity.
INQUIRER.net is awaiting a response from Globe on this issue.