DICT bill now up to the President

DAVAO CITY May 20 (PIA)- The bill which proposes the creation of the Department of the ICT (DICT) is now with the President.

This according to Roy Espiritu, communications officer of the Information Communications Technology Office (ICTO) and attached agency under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

He said the bill was transmitted to President Benigno Aquino III a day after the May 9 elections.

The bill could either be signed by the President which will become a law or veto it. If no action would be taken it would lapse into law on June 9.

Bettina Quimson deputy executive director of the ICTO said a Department of the ICT will bring into essence what they have been doing in the ICTO.

She said ICTO is just a policy-making body with the Department of ICT it can enforce and implement laws as the National Telecommunications Commission will be under the new department.

If signed into law the Philippines will join the Asian countries of Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Brunei, Saudi Arabia and China with their own Department or Ministry level ICT offices.

Aside from planning and promoting the government’s ICT agenda the DICT would promote e-governance, digital literacy and competitiveness, attract ICT investments and beef up consumer protection policies to protect them from lousy IT services and also to ensure privacy. (PIA/RG Alama).