Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy on Friday said he aims to raise the budget utilization of the agency after being flagged by lawmakers.
As of August, the DICT has only used 20 percent of its budget.
“I have already programmed August to the end of the year. At the very least, on my table, we will be shifting to 70 to 80 percent budget utilization, and we’re still preparing for further programs… We aim to have almost 100 percent utilization of the remaining budget,” Uy told the House Committee on Appropriations deliberating on the agency’s proposed 2023 budget.
“In the first 8 months, you will see a budget utilization of 20 percent, but in the next 3 months you will see a utilization of about 50 percent, that is our commitment to our people, to our representatives,” added.
ACT Teachers Party List Rep. France Castro had flagged DICT’s slow budget utilization and the delayed installation of free Wi-Fi in schools.
Of the target 105,000 sites for the free public Wi-Fi program, only 4,000 sites are live, Uy said. This is despite around P12 billion in total funding allocation to the program since it started in 2016.
Uy said he is also seeking explanation from the past DICT administration, but assured lawmakers the slow budget utilization would no longer happen under his watch.
“We have the same question as you do po. Pero I assure you, during my watch, that will not happen,” Uy said.
Castro asked, “So sinasabi ninyo, napaka-incompetent ng last administration ng DICT?”
“Kayo na po ang nagsabi noon, hindi ako,” Uy replied.
(You said that, I didn’t.)
DICT’s priorities for the rest of the year include reactivating the routers and access points where services were terminated after the contract with service providers ended.
“We now have on the ground access points and routers, but they are not lighted because there’s no connectivity, and the renewal, which is a simple case of just preparing for the renewal of those connections, did not happen. That’s so pitiful,” Uy said.
“Our constituents are very disappointed. I was very disappointed in the lack of foresight, the lack of concern in continuing this very simple renewal. We have the funds, but there was no effort at all. That’s part of the program in the next 3 months to reactivate all of these,” he added.
Meanwhile, the National Telecommunications Commission said the refusal of some home owners associations and barangays to issue permits for putting up cell towers continued to be a problem in efforts to improve internet access in the country.
But the NTC said the number of permits issued increased to about 8,000 in 2021 from around 6,000 the year before.
“There are still areas na ayaw talaga magpapasok. For example, the villages in NCR, ayaw talaga magpapasok, even if we talk to the home owners association,” NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said.
(There are still areas that bar us entry. For example, some villages in NCR still refuse, even if we talk to the home owners association.)
He said there would be education campaigns for barangays and home owners associations to inform the people that the radiation they feared was not harmful.
The NTC noted telcos are also planning to use smaller antennas inside villages instead of putting up cell towers.
