The Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will be conducting its own review of a legal provision on which the Supreme Court based its recent ruling that concerns PLDT's foreign ownership. According to Trade Undersecretary Cristino Panlilio, the Supreme Court merely confirmed rules contained in the Foreign Investments Act of 1991. The Supreme Court earlier directed the Securities and Exchange Commission to determine if Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) violated the Constitutional provision that limits foreign ownership of public utilities to 40 percent. The court ruled that only voting or common shares could be used in determining the capital stock and foreign ownership.
"The Supreme Court said it was not interpreting the law, but just confirming it. We'll have to review that particular provision of the law ourselves," the Philippine Daily Inquirer quotes Panlilio as saying.
