MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals (CA) has upheld the legality of the buyout of the telecommunication assets of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) by industry giants PLDT and Globe Telecom. In a 54-page decision released to the media yesterday, the former 12th division of the appellate court permanently stopped the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) from reviewing the P69.1-billion deal. “A writ of mandamus is hereby issued compelling the Philippine Competition Commission to recognize the subject acquisition as deemed approved by operation of law,” read the ruling penned by Associate Justice Ramon Bato. The court held that the PCC committed grave abuse of discretion when it did not follow its own transitory rules and regulations when Globe and PLDT announced the deal. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1It stressed the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) - not the PCC - has the authority to investigate the deal.

Source: Philippine Star October 23, 2017 16:28 UTC