New phones killing Misortel: Calingin

By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent

NEW telecommunications technology and the failure of the capitol to make the 65-year old Misamis Oriental Telephone System (Misortel) competitive with the advent of smartphones have brought the provincial government-owned phone company to its deathbed.

Former governor Antonio Calingin, who chaired the Misortel board for six years, said the company was still “making a little profit” when he served as governor from 1998 to 2004.

“We still had 14 thousand subscribers before,” he said.

Calingin also pointed out that the number of mobile phone users at that time was not much unlike today.

He said he foresaw that Misortel would soon face challenges because of the advances in telecommunications technology, and efforts were made by provincial officials then to make the company competitive.

“That was why during my term, we started putting [in place] structural changes to position Misortel for such eventuality but the rest is history,” Calingin told the Gold Star Daily.

He said what happened was that Misortel was overtaken by newer technology, and the provincial government bureaucracy failed to cope with the rapid advancement of new technology.

Calingin also blamed “too much politics” for the sorry state of Misortel today.

The company, he said, has long been turned into a milking cow.

“But even as a cow, you have to feed it [so it would] produce good milk,” Calingin said.

Calingin said this following Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano’s announcement that the capitol would close down Misortel or sell it if there is a taker, citing losses and how the firm has become a burden to the capitol.

But Calingin said he still thinks that the capitol can still save Misortel.

Calingin also gave this unsolicited advice to Emano: organize a study group to look into the legal economic and bureaucratic implications of his plans on Misortel.

He said even the national government is finding it difficult to close down government-owned and -controlled corporations.

“I still believe that Misortel can still become an asset of the people even with its present state, and if Gov. Bambi (Emano) can look at the right places, Misortel can still become a jewel of the provincial government,” Calingin said.

Jesus Valleser, capitol media consultant, said Emano’s decision was a result of studies and recommendations made by two universities in the city.

Valleser cited three reasons for the decision to close down Misortel:

• Misortel is confronted with serious problems on technical capability;
• the company has lost its financial stability; and
• Misortel has lost its franchise.

Valleser said Congress could no longer renew Misortel’s franchise because of Republic Act 7925. The law provides that the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is supposed to privatize all telecommunications facilities currently owned or operated by the government.

The law also provides: “Unless otherwise authorized by law, privatization of telecommunication facilities,  as well as construction of telephone infrastructure, shall be made through public bidding.”

Vice Gov. Jose Mari Pelaez said he was in favor of plans to shut down Misortel, saying that the provincial government has been “bleeding” because of the company.

“Dugay ra na bankrupt ang Misortel,” said Pelaez. “I agree that it should be closed down.”

He said the capitol has been subsidizing Misortel by the millions of pesos every year.

Pelaez also said the capitol has been playing for loans secured by the capitol during previous administrations.

“We are still paying,” he said.

Gov. Emano earlier blamed his predecessor, now Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oscar Moreno, for the poor state of Misortel.

He said he took over in 2013 with a company ailing as a result of mismanagement.

Emano said the first thing he did was to do away with the juicy allowances Misortel has been giving its chairman and members of the board. The governor automatically sits as Misortel chairman while members of the provincial board are its directors.

But Moreno answered back: “Misortel’s bankruptcy and inevitable closure were to be expected from Bambi Emano’s lack of understanding and inefficient  administration. Also, it is very fitting that Bambi writes finis to a story that his father wrote in the early ’90s as the later embarked on ambitious Misortel expansion that was however unfortunately marked and characterized by purely ‘trapo’ practices and norms. That so-called expansion was meant to dismally fail, given that it violated virtually every establishment rule and norm.”

Rene Guinguing, officer in charge of Misortel, said the telephone company would mark its 66th anniversary on Tuesday, Nov. 8.