THE Philippine Competition Commission has been ordered to comment on the separate petitions filed by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecommunications Inc. and justify its review of the P70-billion buyout deal of the telecommunication assets of San Miguel Corp.
In separate resolutions, the Court of Appeals’ 12th and sixth divisions gave the PCC 10 days to submit its comment on the petitions filed by PLDT and Globe.
“Without necessarily giving due course to the instant petition… Philippine Competition Commission is directed to file a comment [not a motion to dismiss] within a non-extendible period of 10 days from notice and show cause why the petition with prayer for a temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction should not be granted,” the 12th division resolution, penned by Associate Justice Ramon Bato Jr., stated.
The PLDT has five days to file its reply to the comment that PCC will file, after which the appellate court will determine if it will submit the case for decision or will still conduct a hearing or require submission of memoranda.
However, the CA’s Sixth Division denied Globe’s bid for the issuance of a temporary restraining order against PCC’s investigation.
In its two-page resolution, the appellate court, through Associate Justice Nina G. Antonio-Valenzuela, stressed that for a restraining order to be issued, the right to be protected must exist and the acts sought to be restrained are violative of that right.
“Mere allegations of the existence of the such requisites, absent proof, cannot be the basis for the issuance of an injunctive writ,” the CA ruled.
In their separate petitions filed before the CA, Globe and PLDT sought to prevent the PCC from conducting full investigation of their co-purchase of the telco assets of San Miguel Corp.
PLDT argued that the deal has been deemed approved by operation of law since they have fully complied with the terms of the transitory circulars issued by the PCC.
“The legal effects and consequences of such compliance cannot be reversed or undone by the PCC,” the company earlier said.
PLDT said its wireless subsidiary Smart has been implementing the transaction and using the frequencies as part of its nationwide rollout.
They warned that a reversal of the transaction will result in irreparable and incalculable injury to the public service.