THE last two years saw the people of Western Visayas bravely survive a debilitating pandemic, a devastating typhoon, and a highly engaging elections season –- all putting important discussions about regional concerns on hold or on slow mode. But the key stakeholders for the information and communications technology industry in Western Visayas did not waste any time to focus on serious matters such as connectivity.
I am glad to have been part of the discussions at the start of the year about how the region can concretely establish a strong score for telecommunications in the overall investment scorecard for locations of ICT-enabled industries.
The Regional Development Council - Western Visayas chaired by Governor Rhodora Cadiao of the Province of Antique, approved last March 31 RDC Western Visayas Resolution No. 13 Series 2022 which created the Sub-Committee on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Under The Regional Development Council in Western Visayas - Infrastructure Development Committee (IDC).
The resolution summarizes our meetings on January 19 and February 28, 2022. In Western Visayas, though cellphone signal and mobile device ownership have been improving, internet usage remains low, especially in rural areas owing to inadequate ICT infrastructure. This is aggravated by the effects of natural disasters, particularly typhoons that collapse or damage several towers and utility posts. Recently, the onslaught of Typhoon Odette has caused a major disruption in the mobile and internet services in affected areas, including Western Visayas.
The growing business process outsourcing and ICT industries have pushed the region’s economy upward despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Such industry is heavily reliant on the state of the region’s ICT infrastructure. Hence, the RDC-Western Visayas-IDC facilitated two technical meetings with the telecommunications providers, ICT and BPO companies and concerned government agencies. The major agreement during the meetings is to improve the redundancy and resilience of the ICT infrastructure through the active collaboration/engagement of the public and private stakeholders and the implementation of a roadmap on the same
The IDC recommended to create the sub-committee on ICT Infrastructure with DICT - Western Visayas in accordance with Republic Act No. 10844, otherwise known as the DICT Act of 2015, and RDC VI Resolution No. 64, Series of 2020: Designating the DICT-6 to lead the Regional Inter-Agency Committee to oversee the implementation of JMC No. 1, Series of 2020. The proposed officers and members of the sub-committee are the Department of Information and Communications Technology Region 6, the Iloilo Federation for Information and Communications Technology as co-chair.
The members are the National Telecommunications Commission, Department of Public Works and Highways, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, Department of Interior and Local Government, and the Local Economics and Investments Promotions Officers of the provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental and cities of Iloilo and Bacolod.
Also listed as members as private sector representative are our organization, the Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology and all the major telecommunications companies in Western Visayas.
The tasks and functions of the sub-Committee are to conduct meetings or consultations for the ICT industry, to improve the collaboration of the government and telecommunications companies, or private service providers, and to strengthen the implementation of laws or policies on ICT infrastructure development, including the issuances for the application of permits in the development of telecommunications towers.
The sub-committee is to work on decentralizing and improving the reporting of telcos based on the International Telecommunication Union standards, and to facilitate the macro analysis of the region’s ICT capacity, the report on which will serve as a baseline for the development of the ICT Infrastructure Roadmap in Western Visayas.
They shall also encourage the LGUs, notably the provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental and cities of Iloilo and Bacolod, to create initially a "desk with a plantilla person” for the ICT infrastructure development functions, within an institutionalized LEIPO office, and provide updates or reports during the IDC Meeting.
The resolution was approved upon the motion of Private Sector Representative Luisa Segovia, Chairperson of the Infrastructure Development Committee and Trustee of the Iloilo Business Club, and duly seconded by Marilou Llavan, Program Director of the Antique Human Development Program, Inc.