Joey De Venecia sues NTC, telcos

MANILA, Philippines—Jose “Joey” de Venecia III is asking a Quezon City court to stop the National Telecommunications Commission and several telecommunications companies from charging more than 80 centavos for text messages.

In a petition filed Thursday morning, De Venecia also sought a writ of mandamus to compel the NTC to act on the issue of a  P0.15 interconnection fee which is being questioned by telephone companies.

Also named respondents in the P110,000 damage suit were Digital Telecommunications Phils Inc., Globe Telecoms Inc. and Smart Communications Inc.

De Venecia filed the civil case as a private citizen asked to be awarded at least P2,000 a month since December 2011 “due to the illegal collection of more than 80 centavos per interconnected SMS.”