A CONSUMER watchdog group will file a class action Thursday against major telecommunication companies (telcos) for allegedly "victimizing" the public through "vanishing" cell phone loads and other "scams."

The Cellphone Owners and Users of the Philippines (COUP) represented by human rights lawyer Rod Domingo will file the case against Smart Communications Incorporated, Globe Telecom, and Sun Cellular before the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) at 9 a.m. Thursday.

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Domingo said among the issues that will be raised by the complainants are the disappearing loads, false advertisements, dropped calls, spam, unsolicited messages illegally charged against consumers and users, illegal charges of deduction of loads for failed messages, and full charge or load deduction for missed calls and interrupted calls.

But he said the complainants will not ask for any monetary compensation from the telecommunication companies, adding that what they are after is not the money.

One of the complainants, Vicente Gambito, said the case should serve as a wake-up call to the public who were also "victimized" by disappearing load.

"For so long, Filipinos have been very docile in the face of these abuses until today," Gambito said, adding that he also encountered the same problems raised by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile in recent Senate hearings.

Gambito also encouraged the public who faced the same predicament to join the filing of the class action suit to "teach a lesson" to the telcos.

At the same time, he said government agencies such as the NTC should have stopped the abuses of telcos.

After the filing of the suit, a press conference will be held at the Carlos Albert Hall, Legislative Wing of the Quezon City Hall.

During the Senate hearings, Enrile raised the issue of vanishing loads, saying he had lost more than P400 without even touching the phone.

He, likewise, complained of receiving a ringtone and three other songs into his cell phone and deducting P180 for the downloads.

The lawmaker said he was perplexed how he could be billed for downloading when he does not even know how to send text messages.

Enrile and Senator Joker Arroyo scolded NTC Deputy Commissioner Douglas Michael Mallillin for insisting that his agency only had residual powers in dealing with telcos and that the telecom industry had been deregulated.

The two senators said that the NTC had the power to set rates that were "reasonable and fair," otherwise it should be abolished.

But the NTC said the case of disappearing phone loads or prepaid airtime might have been prevented had local telcos allowed the government to implement stronger rules on consumer protection.

NTC Commissioner Ruel Canobas said telcos have blocked the implementation of NTC Memorandum Circular no. 13-06, 2000 that would have covered sanctions against erring telcos, as well as rules that would require people to show identification whenever they're buying prepaid SIM cards, mandatory billing statements for consumers, prepaid usage, and interconnection.

The NTC, Canobas said, was also prevented by a court injunction from implementing the rules. (AH/Sunnex)