THIS column borrows heavily from one that I wrote back in October 2018; the topic was inspired at the time by the chaos and delay surrounding the selection of the third telecommunications provider. The turmoil surrounding the handling of water utilities and ride-hailing public transportation services in the last few weeks of the year seems to make the topic highly relevant again.
Many of the problems of poorly developed and poorly provided services in the Philippines —utilities, transportation and telecommunications — can be attributed in some way to this country’s never having developed effective regulatory competence or frameworks. There are literally dozens of regulatory agencies in the Philippines, and it is very likely that not a single one of them functions correctly, even though on paper, at least some of them should.