PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, September 11, said he will take over the selection process for a third telecommunications player in the country if no decision is made by early November.

"'Pag wala pa, I'll take over. Ilagay ko iyan sa Office of the President. And I will invite all dito ['yung] negosyante and I will decide in front of them kung sino [ang mapipili ko]," the President said in a one-on-one talk with Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo on Tuesday, September 11.

(If there's no new telecommunications player being picked, I'll take over. I'll let the Office of the President handle that. And I will invite all businessmen here and I will decide in front of them as to who will be selected.)

"I will resolve it by late October and early November. By Christmas, alam na ng mga tao kung sino na ang third player (the public already knows who is the third player)," he added.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology earlier announced its target to complete the selection process for the new firm by December 2018.

Duterte wants a new telecommunications player to break the duopoly of telecommunications giants PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. and provide better services to consumers. (Ruth Abbey Gita/SunStar Philippines)