By Emmie V. Abadilla Opposition yesterday snowballed against provisional new major player (NMP) Mindanao Islamic Telephone Company (Mislatel) as a handful of senators discredited the consortium and its selection process while a disqualified bidder accused it of two-timing the government and plans to sue it for breach of contract. The Liberal Party (LP) Senators Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros, Leila De Lima, Francis Pangilinan, and Antonio Trillanes slammed the transparency of the NMP selection process in yesterday’s joint statement. “Why were the other bidders booted out?” they questioned, implying that the government simply went through the motions to put on record that a selection process was done and that Malacañang meddled to ensure China Telecom can operate in the Philippines. As this developed, SEAR Telecoms, the consortium of the Luis Chavit Singson Group of Companies and Mindanao-based TierOne Communications, which the NMP Selection Committee disqualified from last week’s bidding, publicly accused Mislatel of breach of contract and deceiving the government. Mislatel partnered with the Dennis Uy consortium, composed of Udenna Corp., Chelsea Holdings, and China Telecom while it is still tied by a “very live existing contract” with one of SEAR’s members, TierOne – specifically, TierOne’s subsidiary, Digiphil. Digiphil and Mislatel “undertook to jointly venture into a business to provide telecommunications services and other information and communication technology services,” according to SEAR Telecom’s statement issued late this Sunday. “In this regard, Mislatel and Digiphil shall coordinate for the filing of the applications or petitions before NTC or other government agencies to secure frequency allocations, permits, and authorization for the establishment, operation and maintenance of the foregoing services.” “Clearly, the applications referred in the Agreement (of the two companies) include submission of a bid with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), such as one held last November 7, 2018. Notably, before the bidding, Mislatel applied for broadband services under the “regular” NTC procedure.” “Mislatel’s breach of its Agreement (with Digiphil) and its false representations to the NTC are matters of record that no amount of denial can hide,” according to the SEAR statement. “ The NTC should not be swayed by Mislatel’s unilateral disavowal of what clearly are its contractual commitments to Digiphil.” Definitely, Mislatel can't allow its telecom franchise to be used by anyone else without the consent of Digiphil, Sear's Legal Counsel, Raoul Creencia pointed out during last week’s MNP bidding. Digiphil has a right of first refusal, which Mislatel should have invoked and didn't. If the court rules that Mislatel breached its contract with Digiphil, it is not eligible to partner with Udenna for the NMP. "That's a fatal flaw," the Sear's legal counsel stressed. Sear plans to file a breach of contract case against Mislatel in either the Makati or the Quezon City court but it is still awaiting the result of its Motion for Reconsideration (MR), filed at the NTC on Friday, last week (November 9, 2018). Meanwhile, Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo stressed, in a Palace briefing, that President Rodrigo Duterte did not intervene in the selection of the third telco and that “there was a transparent, fair, public and open selection process, done in accordance with laws, as well as with pertinent rules and regulations.” Senators Francis Escudero and Joel Villanueva, in separate statements, corroborated Panelo’s remarks, commending the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) and the NTC. Senator Sonny Angara noted that the entry of the NMP in the telecommunications industry will fast-track the implementation of country-wide access to better internet services at affordable cost. For their part, National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Chief Ernesto Pernia and Rep. Lito Atienza drummed on the economic benefits that the third telco will bring in to our country such as investment partnerships and capital spending. With the Mislatel group involving the ChinaTelecom, Sen. Grace Poe stated that security concerns over the participation of a foreign firm should not be sidestepped and that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and other intelligence agencies should weigh in on the qualifications. National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon maintained that the AFP played a role in the selection of the third telecommunications player in the country so there’s nothing to worry about national security. Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri remarked that it would be unfair to imply that China Telecom’s presence in Mislatel would be a national security concern.