More connectivity, more prosperity and DICT
ENERGY, INFRA AND ECONOMICS - Bienvenido Oplas Jr. - The Philippine Star
August 21, 2025 | 12:00am
https://www.philstar.com/business/2025/08/21/2466887/more-connectivity-more-prosperity-and-dict
“As of 2022, only 77 percent or 20.6 million households were connected to the Internet. This is much too low. Together with our private sector partners, we will efficiently harness the concept of common towers to provide connectivity to Filipinos who are at the far end of the last mile.”
– President Marcos Jr., SONA 2024, July 22, 2024.
“Halos labindalawang libong pampublikong paaralan pa ang walang internet. Kaya sinisiguro ng DICT at ng DepEd na bago matapos ang taong ito, magkakaroon na ng koneksyon ng internet ang lahat ng pampublikong paaralan.”
– President Marcos Jr., SONA 2025, July 28, 2025
I checked the comparative internet connectivity of our neighbors in the ASEAN in 2022 and 2023, “Individuals using the internet as percent of total population” from World Bank’s World Development Indicators 2025 database, here are the numbers: Malaysia 97.4 and 97.7, Singapore 96 and 94.3, Thailand 88 and 89.5, Vietnam 78.6 and 78.1, Indonesia 66.5 and 69.2, Cambodia 58 and 60.7, Philippines 75.2 and 83.8.
So, the Philippines has the largest increase in internet connectivity in one year, good. And now a huge target of 12,000 public schools to have connectivity to be done by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and Department of Education.
I checked recent reports in The STAR related to connectivity, a number of optimistic stories: “DICT backs Konektadong Pinoy Act” (July 17), “DICT to launch center vs scam websites” (July 28), “Marcos vows internet access for all public schools by end of 2025” (July 28), “DICT: Expect 60K free WiFi sites in 2026” (Aug. 5), “Inside Philippine gov’t’s plan to upskill workers in AI” (Aug. 11).
So there is very high expectations of new DICT Secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda as the President has assigned even higher achievements from him – all 12,000 plus public schools, plus another 12,000 plus rural health centers. Tall order.
I checked the budget allocation for DICT, from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing 2026, submitted to Congress last week.
DICT total budget are as follows: P14.8 billion in 2024, P15.1 billion in 2025 and P18.9 billion in 2026. Of which the infrastructure outlays are: P9.27 billion in 2024, declined to P6.51 billion in 2025, but rise to P12.14 billion in 2026.
It is good that DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman has added nearly P4 billion next year to DICT given the high expectations and high targets by Secretary Aguda himself. She cut the budget for flood control projects by DPWH among others, and added budget for useful projects like rural free WiFi by DICT. Good move, Ms. Pangandaman.
Aguda was appointed DICT Secretary last March; by June the DICT has activated 18,850 free WiFi sites, 6,180 of them in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas under the Free Public Internet Access Program (FPIAP) which installs WiFi sites in government offices and schools. Plus rolled out 3,026 kilometers of fiber under Phases 2 and 3 of the National Broadband Program, and celebrated the passage of the E-Governance Act and the Konektadong Pinoy Act.
So 18,850 free WiFi sites in June, then 19,000 last July. I read from various sources his targets: at least 30,000 end of this year, and up to 50,000 in 2026, up to 70,000 in 2027, and more, bring connectivity to more Filipinos. The target to cover 12,000 public schools and another 12,000 rural health centers can be done this year. Help improve rural medical facilities to have access to internet to promote telemedicine use, store health records nationwide, among others.
I checked who is this guy Aguda to be given such a huge task nationwide and delivered quick results in his first three months in office. From various web sources I saw, he is half-decade younger than me in UP Diliman, finished BS Mathematics, proceeded to UP Law and graduated as class valedictorian.
Weird, a mathematician who enjoys abstract formula, Greek equations, infinity numbers and fractals, would go into law and endure reading perhaps hundreds of pages of words per day, and still excel to graduate as valedictorian. The guy has thick and dynamic grey matter between his ears.
He dreams of “Digital Bayanihan” – that government, private companies, academe, and communities to work together to close the digital divide, connect the farthest barangays, power the growth of homegrown tech startups, create millions of digital jobs for a workforce who can compete and thrive in the global arena.
Nice dream. Increased connectivity nationwide means that even remote communities will have access to more economic opportunities, from outsourcing, e-commerce, app development, or even government tech services.
As a former telco executive, Aguda is said to want more transparency within the industry. He also wants to require every government agency and local governments to adopt digital services via the eGov SuperApp, which now houses several government services. The app won the United Nations E-Government Award from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, has drawn over 14 million registered users and facilitated more than 200 million transactions nationwide.
More dreams – enable up to $9 billion in hyperscaler investments, secure digital systems through a national cybersecurity certification program, more affordable internet outside of free public WiFi. And a bold motto: “To the critics: test us. To the people: trust us. To the future: we’re already building it.”
Meanwhile this is another challenge to the Department of Energy and the private energy players – more power generation from reliable and non-intermittent sources, more electricity supply even to remote barangays.
More electricity plus more connectivity equals more economic opportunities, more prosperity for our people.
No comments:
Post a Comment