As a countermeasure against PLDT's earlier attempts at refusing interconnection with its competitors, President Ramos signed an Executive Order 59 on 24 February 1993. EO 59 required interconnection among all authorized telecommunications companies, in order for subscribers on one operator to reach the subscribers of another. In the Senate, anti-monopoly bills were filed in the House of Representatives and it was reported that PLDT was the main target of these bills. The Congress had already approved nine telecom franchise, their applications pending at the NTC for provisional authority to operate international, cellular, or value-added services. This also led to the Congress controlling who could obtain a franchise. But PLDT would successfully block new entrants to the industry by filing various legal challenges.