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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Quezon City
IN THE MATTER OF THE ACQUISITION BY THE PHILIPPINELONG DISTANCE TELEPHONECOMPANY OF THE OWNERSHIPINTEREST OF JG SUMMITHOLDINGS, INC AND THAT OFCERTAIN OTHER PARTIES INDIGITAL TELECOMMUNICATIONSPHILIPPINES, INC.
 
NTC Case/Docket No. ________ 
x---------------------------------------------------------x
 
URGENT MOTIONTO REQUEST FOR COPIESOF RELEVANT DOCUMENTS ANDFOR LEAVE AND TIMETO FILE VERIFIED OPPOSITION
Oppositor
TXTPOWER.ORG INC.
(hereinafter referred to as“TXTPower”), through the undersigned, respectfully states and moves:1. In a Notice of Hearing, the Honorable Commission has indicatedthat on May 23, 2011, it will hear the request of the Philippine Long DistanceTelephone Company (hereinafter referred to as “PLDT”) to approve itsacquisition of the ownership interest of JG Summit Holdings, Inc (hereinafterreferred to as the “JGS Group”) and that of certain other parties in DigitalTelecommunications Philippines, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “Digitel”).The Honorable Commission requested parties opposed to the petition toappear and file their verified opposition to the request, failing which shall beconstrued as a waiver of their right to be heard.
 
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2. According to reports, the acquisition by PLDT of JGS Group’sownership interest in Digitel (hereinafter referred to as the “PLDT-DigitelDeal”) comprises the following: (i) 3,277,135,882 common shares in Digitel,representing a 51.55% equity stake; (ii) zero-coupon convertible bonds issuedby Digitel and its subsidiaries to the JGS Group which are assumed to beconvertible into approximately 18.6 billion shares of Digitel by 30 June 2011;and (iii) intercompany advances of P34.1 Billion made by the JGS Group andcertain of such parties to Digitel and its subsidiaries.3. However, notwithstanding the release of the Notice of Hearing,the Honorable Commission has not provided oppositor TXTPower and thegeneral public with the principal documents and other records in connectionwith the PLDT-Digitel Deal. As much as oppositor TXTPower would like tosubmit its opposition to the PLDT-Digitel Deal during the hearing set by theHonorable Commission, it is unable to do.4. To allow it to intelligently prepare its opposition, oppositorTXTPower respectfully moves and requests that any and all records,documents and papers in connection with the PLDT-Digitel Deal that are inthe possession of the Honorable Commission be made available to the publicand uploaded on the Honorable Commission's official website for viewing anddownloading. Considering that the PLDT-Digitel Deal involves a commercialtransaction that is imbued with public interest, the Honorable Commissionowes it to all stakeholders, mobile technology consumers and the generalpublic to disclose and make available all all records, documents and papers inconnection therewith.
 
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5. In any case, if only to provide the Honorable Commission withits initial position regarding the PLDT-Digitel Deal, and without prejudice toits motion and request for leave and time to submit its verified opposition, acopy of the undersigned's blog post "PLDT-Digitel deal: What's in it forconsumers?" dated March 29, 2011 is attached and made an integral parthereof as
 Annex “1-TXTPower”
; and a copy of the speech "Citizens,netizens and consumers take on the PLDT-Digitel Deal" dated April 11, 2011is attached and made an integral part hereof as
 Annex “2-TXTPower”
.6. Further, it is important to highlight the basic and well-established legal principle that a franchise is a mere privilege that is subjectto amendment, alteration or repeal by the Congress of the Philippines whenthe common good so requires. [
cf 
.
Telecommunications and Broadcast Attorneys of the Philippines v.
 
Commission on Elections
,
 
289 SCRA 337(1998)] Considering that the PLDT-Digitel Deal will have grave implicationsand ramifications on existing frequency allocations, it is imperative for allstakeholders and mobile technology consumers to be given the opportunity toraise their concerns regarding the same.7. As it stands, if the PLDT-Digitel Deal will be approved, PLDTwill reportedly have an estimated wireless mobile market share of 60% to65%, thus raising serious concerns about provisions for adequate consumerservices and welfare. Moreover, it has recently been reported that the JGSGroup intends to sell to Japanese telecommunications giant NTT DoCoMothe 2.8% stake (out of its total 12.8% stake) it will receive from PLDT
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