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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider House panel learns that water pipes, not telecommunication pipes, were used for broadband project

House panel learns that water pipes, not telecommunication pipes, were used for broadband project

Published Jun 3, 2023 01:55 am
House of Representatives (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has recently admitted to congressmen that one of the reasons for the delay of the National Broadband Project (NBP) was the wrong choice of pipe for its fiber optics. In an oversight hearing of the House Committee on Appropriations, Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Northern Samar 1st district Rep. Paul Daza asked the DICT for an update on the NBP since it was taking so long to implement. According to DICT Secretary Ivan Uy, the Baler Landing Station is back online and they are now trying to connect it to the Luzon bypass or the connection from North Luzon going down to the metropolis, particularly Quezon City. What happened was that the contractor that DICT tapped for the NBP made a mistake: it used water pipes instead of telecommunication pipes. "That’s why we need to redo," Uy told the committee headed by Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co. He said the contractor came from the public works sector. “That’s the big issue that happened that’s why the national broadband was delayed. Because the contractor that was contracted to do it was a public works contractor and not a telecoms contractor," Uy explained. He said the water pipes didn't meet the standards of DICT and Facebook. In the same hearing, Co told the DICT to to step up and serve as an example in the bureaucracy so that President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s campaign promise of digitization in government would be fulfilled.

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DICT NBP Ako Bicol party-list National Broadband Plan zaldy co
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