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THE capitol-owned Misamis Oriental Telephone System may get a second wind if Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano and a still unnamed investors strike a deal.

The possible agreement could resuscitate the ailing provincial government’s telecommunications company, the capitol announced yesterday.

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“There is hope,”said Emano, “that Misortel can be saved and improved.”

Emano did not give details but credited it to “someone from above would not want us to shut it down because there are still people who are interested to improve our telephone system.”

He said he had wanted to let go of Misortel, a company that his father Vicente worked to modernize when the latter was governor in the ’90s until an investor expressed in infusing capital into the ailing firm.

Misortel, he said, has been draining capitol funds. He said the capitol could no longer sustain its operations because it required over P12 million a year.

“Nakigpulong ako sa akong amahan, si Governor Dongkoy kabahin sa pagpasira sa Misortel. Dugay kaayo siya mitubag kanako. Pasalamat lamang ako tungod kay iya nang gidawat nga ma-shut down na ang Misortel tungod kay maglisod na gayud og subsidize ang kapitolyo sa galastuhan. Pero dili pa gayud diay gihapon itugot nga magsirado na ang Misortel tungod kay duna man karon nagpakita og interest nga mag-improve sa Misortel,” Emano said.

If plans don’t miscarry, he said, the capitol would not spend anything to upgrade Misortel but the provincial government would still retain a 60-percent of its income once it fully operates under the management of the private entity.

“The agreement is 60-40. So it’s favorable to the provincial government because we will not spend, yet we will earn,” Emano said.

Misortel, during the watch of his father, had some 15 thousand subscribers at the most but its subscription base slowly plunged.

Emano blamed this on “wrong investment and wrong way of borrowing money.”

He said, “In fact, we are still paying some of these loans until today. It was during the previous administration that the number of subscribers started to cascade until now because there was no improvement. The system and the technology were not upgraded,” Emano said.

But it would still not a walk in the park for Misortel because Congress has yet to approve its franchise before an investor can come in and infuse fresh capital to make it a state-of-the-art facility.

“Once the franchise is approved… because we are afraid someone would block the approval… you will know who this investor will be,” he said. (misor-pio)

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