All eyes on Duterte to give DICT thrust, direction

After years of lobbying from the public sector and various interest groups, outgoing President Benigno Aquino III finally signed into law the creation of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) late Monday, May 23.

One of the last laws to be enacted by the outgoing president, Republic Act 10844 establishes the DICT as a body mandated to formulate and implement policies that will promote the development and use of ICT; establish a free internet service that can be accessed in government offices and public areas; and protect the rights and welfare of consumers and business users to privacy, security and confidentiality in matters relating to ICT, among others. 

The DICT will be headed by a Secretary, to be assisted by three Undersecretaries and four Assistant Secretaries.

Duterte's move

But with barely a month left in PNoy's term, all eyes are now on presumptive president elect Rodrigo Duterte's choices to fill these positions when he assumes power.

"The DICT's first set of officials will be in Duterte's hands, so it's important to get to know his stand on telecoms and ICT, as well as who his advisors are. That should give us an idea if he would give this new department the attention and resources that it needs," said Grace Mirandilla-Santos, an independent ICT policy researcher.

"(He) acts fast and decides in the moment, so we the stakeholders who have worked hard to pass this DICT law should continue to work hard to help the president when he implements the DICT law," she added.

Forward thinkers needed

As a longtime observer of the country's ICT industry, Internet Society of the Philippines (ISOC-PH) chair Winthrop Yu believes that the new agency will require forward-thinking leadership.

"Quite frankly, DICT—and the NTC as well—needs newer, younger, blood. They may be digital natives or not. But we certainly need those who share in the global vision of an open, distributed and diverse Internet with affordable access for all," he said.

"We should finally level-up and dispense with hoary, old centralized and monolithic long distance telephone thinking—that is so last millennium and will cause us to fall further behind," he underscored.

Hardline concerns

At least one observer has raised concern that the problems raised by Duterte's hardline stance against criminality may spill over online, facilitated by the DICT.

"His promises have always been about enforcing security and fighting crime. His public record on delivering those promises has several human rights run roughshod in the implementation. My concern is that freedom online, as well as offline, should never be sacrificed solely for security," said Atty. Marnie Tonson of the Philippine Internet Freedom Alliance (PIFA).

However, he likewise expressed hope that the DICT could also pave the way for much-needed reforms in the ICT sector.

"That being said, I am hopeful that together with the new Competition Commission, this new ICT Department will finally break the hold of the present duopoly on the telecommunications sector, resulting in faster and more decent internet service," Tonson explained.

In any case, for many observers, the DICT was a long time coming—and it couldn't have come a moment too soon.

Hope for common sense

"The DICT is a longstanding demand of a broad cross-section of the public, from end-users to businesses. This will put technology and ICT issues at the highest echelon of policy-making—to enable people to do what they want to do," said consumer rights group TXTPower president TweetUpMNL co-founder Tonyo Cruz.

"We hope that the next administration transforms it into something like the US' own Federal Communications Commission.  There must be common-sense regulations to protect public interest and to promote a progressive future unfettered by telco abuses. The Duterte administration is in a position to use DICT for maximum effect in empowering consumers, government and businesses," he concluded. — GMA News