President Duterte threatened to shut down both telecommunications players Globe and Smart if they will not be able to improve their services by the end of December.
Duterte made the statement as he delivered his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.
In his speech, President Duterte said that Filipinos were already fed up with the services of the two companies and that he will not be afraid to close them down if they are not able to improve their services.
"The patience of the Filipino people is reaching its limit and I will be the one to articulate the anger of the Filipino people and you might not want what I intend to do with you," he said.
"Kindly improve the services before December. I want to call Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. Better have that line cleared," he added.
"If you are not ready to improve, I might just as well close all of you and we revert back to the line telephone at kukunin ko 'yan. I-expropriate ko sa gobyerno (and I will expropriate you to the government)," he continued.
According to the President, the government is being pictured to be incompetent and weak because it cannot force its mandate on companies like Globe and PLDT that provide public service.
He, instead, urged the two companies to look for ways to be able to give the public the services that other countries have been experiencing for a long time already.
"You better improve. 'Wag naman ninyo kaming pahintayin sampung taon bago kami makakamit ng mga (Do not let us wait for 10 years before you give us the) services that the other countries are enjoying," Duterte said.
"If it's just a question of added capitalization or the infusion of money, go and look for it... Wala kayong pera? Puta, umalis kayo dito (You have no money? Then get out)," he added.
President Duterte vowed to use his remaining days in Malacañang to improve the telecommunications services in the country.
"You know you give us half-cooked transactions, lousy service. Tapos ang tao nagbabayad. (And yet the people still pay for it). Tell us now if you cannot really improve on it because I will work by December," he said.
"I have two years. The next two years will be spent improving the telecommunications of this country without you. I will find a way. I will talk to Congress and find a way how to do it," he added.
President Duterte has pushed for the entry of a third telecommunications player. Last year, he gave the permit to Dito Telecommunity, a consortium of Davao businessman Dennis Uy's Udenna Corporation and Chinese state-owned China Telecommunications.
In his SONA last year, President Duterte challenged the new player to fulfill its commitment to provide fast and reliable services to the people, especially in underserved areas.
After missing its July 8 technical launch, Uy said Dito's services will be available by March, 2021.