MANILA - NOW Telecom on Wednesday said its case against the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) was not filed to delay the selection of the country's next major telecommunications player but to ensure a fair and transparent process.

NOW Telecom complained that the NTC made the selection process a money-making scheme.

“We did not file the suit against NTC to delay the bidding, but to uphold the right of any bidder to ensure a transparent and fair process,” NOW Telecom lead counsel Aldrich Dy said in a statement.

The firm has questioned the P700 million participation security, the P14 billion to P24 billion performance security, and the P10 million non-refundable per appeal fee, saying that these were "violations of the law" and "barriers" to the process.

Despite the dispute, NOW Telecom bought bidding documents to show its commitment to participate in the process, Dy said.

Eight firms, 3 of them foreign, bought bidding documents and are vying to be the third major telecommunications player after Globe Telecoms and PLDT, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Officer-In-Charge Eliseo Rio said in a Senate hearing last Oct. 22.

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NOW Telecom wants all the bids presented to President Rodrigo Duterte because he has the political will to remove "confiscatory and potentially extortionary" provisions, Dy said.

Barring any court order, a provisional third telecommunications player is expected to be named by Nov. 7, Rio said during the Senate hearing.