Necessity of digital connection
Today, broadband connectivity or access to the internet or mobile networks is part and parcel of daily life in our country and elsewhere in the world.
Like water and electricity, it is indispensable to majority of Filipinos. They would have an anxiety attack or feel naked if that connection is lost even for a short period of time.
But some property developers and building administrators consider and treat that connectivity as a luxury that justify imposing exorbitant lease fees of up to hundreds of millions annually to allow its installation and operation in their premises.
For them, that modern means of communication is a “cash cow” they can wantonly exploit because the law on the construction of residential and commercial buildings implicitly allows them to do so.
It doesn’t matter that the costs of installation are shouldered by the service provider and that their residents or tenants would derive enormous benefits from the connectivity.
That posture has resulted in higher operational and maintenance costs that are invariably passed on to subscribers and users.
Note that under a law enacted in 1977, or Presidential Decree No. 1096, the provisioning of water and electrical facilities in buildings is exempt from lease fees. And rightly so because they are crucial to daily life.
The exemption helps lower their operational costs, an arrangement that could redound to the benefit of their users.
A similar form of “exemptive relief” is being sought by CitizenWatch Philippines, an organization that advocates for citizens’ rights, for digital connectivity equipment.
It had called on Congress to amend that 48-year-old law by putting digital connectivity on a par with or on the same value level as water and electricity.
The ball is in the court of the Senate because the House of Representatives had already approved in 2013 a bill that aims to accomplish that objective. Except for a few tweaks, it would be easy for the Senate to approve it, too.
The significant role that digital connectivity plays in the country was acknowledged by Congress in 2015 when it enacted Republic Act No. 10639 (or The Free Mobile Disaster Alerts Act).
That law requires mobile phone service providers to send out alerts, free of charge, of an impending tropical storm, typhoon, tsunami or other calamities at regular intervals as may be required by the government offices that monitor those natural phenomena.
Thanks to those message alerts, people living in or near affected areas are able to take necessary preemptive measures to stay out of harm’s way when those calamities occur.
According to the World Bank, in 2022, only 33 percent of Filipino households had access to the internet, compared to Malaysia (50 percent), Thailand (58 percent) and Vietnam (76 percent).
As pointed out by CitizenWatch, broadband connectivity is “… the backbone of communication, business, education and essential services.”
Practically every important aspect of daily life these days is based or reliant on that connectivity to an extent unimaginable when the internet was initially conceived in the 1970s.
It is common knowledge that when that digital link breaks down during business hours, work stops and everything related to it is put on hold until the link is restored.
That system proved its worth in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic when quarantine restrictions prevented personal interaction in commercial activities and in the conduct of classes in all levels.
Appealing to property developers’ sense of civic responsibility by voluntarily waiving lease fees for the installation of broadband equipment on their premises would be an exercise in futility.
They cannot be expected to ungrudgingly let go of a cash cow that brings millions of pesos to their coffers. That would go against their natural rapacious character.
There ought to be a law.
