One Way to Avoid Ruling on PP 1017

March 7, 2006

Today, legal luminaries will face off at the Supreme Court which will hear arguments for and against the Constitutionality of PP1017. 
In a nutsell, those in favor of upholding PP1017 will ask the Court to consider that the State of National Emergency has been lifted rendering the matter moot and academic.  On the other hand, those against this proposition hold that PP1017 violates the Constitution not because of its language per se but in the manner by which it was applied (i.e., the Randy David arrest, the Tribune raid, the KBP guidelines).

Since the Court is composed of GMA appointees (or at least 10 out of 15, including the Chief Justice),  I believe they would rather avoid the issue altogether without rendering an opinion.  This way, they can’t be said to have ruled in her favor.  A ruling which says the matter is moot and academic may not hold water given recent media reports speaking of continuing media regulation and the arrest of GMA critics.  It just doesn’t hold water.

 So, I have an alternate solution.
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Significant VOIP Ruling

Businessworld reports that PLDT lost its Supreme Court case where it tried to float the idea that so-called “International Simple Resale” (ISR) constituted the crime of “theft” of telephone calls and/or PLDT’s business. 

This is a significant blow to PLDT’s efforts to stop third parties from routing calls over the Internet into its local exchanges.  In simple terms, this means the ability to have someone abroad place a call that is sent over the Internet but is received on an ordinary telephone in the Philippines.  Since the Internet calls don’t go through PLDT’s international circuits, they’re much cheaper for the caller in the foreign countries. 
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