Gordon unfazed by opposition to ‘text-for-change’ proposal

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon yesterday said he will remain undeterred by initial reservations by telecommunication companies (telcos) over his proposal requiring them to apportion part of their net profits to reduce the backlogs in health and education.

Gordon said he believes that the telcos will have “a heart and a conscience” for the poor school children who have long been suffering from the pitful state of the country’s educational and health care systems due to lack of government resources.

“I expect a David-and-Goliath fight here, but I shall remain unperturbed and undeterred by initial reservations. I believe that people would soon realize we need to pull our resources together to address the shortages in our education and health system,” he said.

“We have waited for years and nothing seems to happen. We must therefore make a tough decision now if we genuinely want our country to compete in the global market and become what we hope it to be, that is at part with the first world countries,” he added.

Under Senate Bill 2402, also touted as the “text-for-change” measure, Gordon proposed that telcos are required to set aside a portion of their net profits from local text messaging to bankroll financial requirements for public school infrastructures.

Based on estimates, the telcos, notably Smart, Globe and Sun Cellular, have been ranking in P2 billion or more from local text messaging, or short messaging System (SMS), sent daily ore than 60 million mobile phone subscribers nationwide, alone.

Gordon explained that it is not only the responsibility of the national government to uplift the country’s educational and health care system, but also of the private businesses which shall stand to benefit once investments in the country’s education and health care infrastructures are set well in place.