By Lenie Lectura
Reporter
COMMISSIONER Ronald Solis of the National Telecommunications Commission tendered his irrevocable resignation on Monday morning.
Solis, a practicing lawyer before assuming his post in January 2004, told President Arroyo in his letter that he will go back to private practice.
“It is now my desire to return to private life and the private practice of law,” his resignation letter stated.
He also thanked the President for “having granted [me] the singular opportunity to serve the country and the Filipino people.”
His resignation will take effect November 30.
“I want to take a rest. My appointment as commissioner of the NTC is my first work in public office. Prior to this, I have always been in the private sector,” said Solis in a telephone interview.
Industry sources said he will be replaced by retired Brig. Gen. Abraham Abesamis, who used to head the Armed Forces Communications Electronics and Information Systems before he retired some two years ago.
Secretary Leandro Mendoza of the Department of Transportation and Communications recommended Abesamis to Arroyo, added the sources.
“Aside from Abesamis, there is this General Soriano who reportedly is among those being considered. Secretary Mendoza also recommended him,” said a former NTC commissioner.
Mendoza himself is a retired general, having been a former National Police chief and member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1969.
Earlier, two PMA classmates of Mendoza, Thompson Lantion and Reynaldo Berroya, were appointed Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chairman and Land Transportation Office chief, respectively.
Rumors about Solis’s replacement spread after Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr. announced his resignation early this month. Cruz, whose resignation becomes effective on November 30, was among the founders of the law firm Villaraza & Angangco, or more popularly known as “The Firm.”
Among others, the law firm Solis and Medina is allegedly “a satellite firm” of Villaraza’s “The Firm.”
“It has something to do with the Pancho [Villaraza]-GMA fallout. He knew he was next after Avelino ‘Nonong’ Cruz. It was better to tender his resignation than have the public know that he will be kicked out,” said the sources.
The resignation apparently surprised some officials in the telecommunications industry. Industry sources said he was the only NTC chief that “made a difference in the telco industry.”
During his two-year-and-11-month stint, he defined VOIP, or voice-over Internet protocol, as a value-added service, a move which public telephone entities, particularly the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), disagreed with.
The awarding of 3G (third-generation) frequencies during his term also caught the ire of the lawmakers.
Recently, a graft case was filed against him at the Ombudsman in relation to the 3G licenses awarded to Smart Communications Inc., Globe Telecom, Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc. and Connectivity Unlimited Resource Enterprise.
He is pushing for a new telecom policy which calls for stricter imposition of sanctions against dominant telcos which abuse their market power. Recently, the commission issued draft rules on digital television.
Business Mirror
November 28, 2006
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