President Rodrigo Duterte is waiting for the evaluation by the National Telecommunications Commission on the country's telecommunications firms, Malacanang said on Monday.

Duterte earlier warned the telcos, including PLDT-Smart Communications and Globe Telecom, that he would order them shut down or the government would expropriate them by the end of 2020 if they fail to improve their services.

"We'll, I'm waiting for the official evaluation to be submitted to the Office of the President coming from the NTC. So if Commissioner (Gamaliel) Liel (Cordoba) is watching our press briefing, the Office of the President is waiting the evaluation that you promised to submit before end of the year," he said.

Asked if there would be no telco closure at least for 2020, Roque said, "I'm not the President, I cannot definitely say."

"But what I can say is the President is awaiting the official evaluation from the regulatory body and as soon as it is submitted to him, then I'm sure I can insist that he comes up with a public reaction to the evaluation," he added. Celerina Monte/DMS