Good news first. The government has taken the first step to consolidate all of its agencies involved in information and communications technology.
The Senate has passed its version of a law which would establish a Department of Information and Communication (DICT), separate and distinct from existing government agencies, and would take the role of promoting information and communication technology (ICT) across the country, both in the public and private sectors.
This ICT function is currently within the mandate of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC); when the bill becomes law, the DOTC will focus only on transportation, which already is an area that requires its full concentration.
Under the proposed DICT law, all other existing ICT functions in other government agencies, including the Department of Science and Technology, will also cease to exist.
Affected agencies and government offices are: the Information and Communications Technology Office, the National Computer Center, the National Computer Institute, the Telecommunications Office, and the National Telecommunications Training Institute.
Three other agencies, namely the National Telecommunications Commission, the National Privacy Commission and the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center, would also be linked to the DICT to enhance the country’s fight against cybercrimes.
More legislative work needed
The bad news is the House is still not ready to pass its counterpart version, a move that is a precursor to bicameral meetings, and finally, the passage of the law.
The Philippines could well be one of the last countries in the world in this day and age which has both transportation and communications under one major government body.
Let’s hope this initiative to separate the functions of transportation and ICT, which was first proposed during the previous administration, will finally push through during P-Noy’s term given the need for the country to have a single agency focused on ICT-related concerns.
Martial law legacy
Born in 1979 during the martial law regime as the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), it formerly shared one umbrella known as the Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Communications. The public works function was then moved to the Ministry of Public Works and Highways.
The MOTC was already partial to transportation-related functions, counting as its first major projects the Light Rail Transit System, a computer-controlled traffic lights system, and the Manila International Airport (now Ninoy Aquino International Airport).
Other major projects included the establishment of a motor vehicle registration and control system, and the introduction of permanent vehicle license plates and the staggered registration system. A bus leasing program was also introduced to add 1,000 new buses in Metro Manila.
The operation of the Metro Manila Transit Corporation was also expanded and the rehabilitation of the Manila South Line of the Philippine National Railways serving the Bicol Region was initiated.
Clearly, just by looking at these starting concerns, the MOTC (which eventually became the Department of Transportation and Communications after the martial law days) had its hands full.
Free Wi-Fi
Another spot of good news, if just for the fact the purpose is laudable, is the initiative by the DOST’s Information and Communications Technology Office to provide free Wi-Fi access for the whole country in public areas.
The listed areas, in order of priority, are plazas and parks, public primary and secondary central schools, libraries, rural health units and government hospitals, state universities and colleges, train stations of the MRT and LRT systems, airports and seaports, city and municipal halls, and national government offices.
At first glance, I would question plazas and parks as being the priority in the list. I would have thought schools would be best served first, or health centers, or local and national government offices.
Reminds me of the scandalous national broadband deal involving the Chinese firm ZTE.
Pa-pogi DOST initiative?
The underlying reason should be not to provide the public per se free Wi-Fi access since this would be a waste of time, effort, and finances – clearly misguided reasoning given the current conditions of the ICT sector in the Philippines.
Unless, of course, this was a pa-pogi initiative by DOST Sec. Mario Montejo, politically motivated either by the upcoming 2016 elections or the passage into law of a DICT.
There is seemingly a strong financial reason for government to undertake its own free Wi-Fi project given the huge amounts government pays to private telecommunications service providers, on top of what public servants dish out from their own pockets.
Enabling a government Wi-Fi system, even if the speed access is severely limited at first, could still prove to be beneficial just as long as the end goal would be to continually upgrade, improve, and expand the system to cover more essential public spaces.
Stronger broadband
But more than free Wi-Fi, government needs to seriously look at its own broadband backbone to connect all its offices under one network at a significantly lower cost and hopefully improved connectivity.
So far, South Korea has been the only country that has managed to structure its broadband services so that it is now regarded as a model for empowering its citizens to securing access to the Internet at very affordable rates.
The DICT that will be formed should make Internet access available to more and more Filipinos, especially now the country is emerging as one of the hottest economies in the world.
