By Noreen Jazul
Department of Information and Communications Technology Undersecretary Eliseo Rio, who led the search for a third telecommunications player in the country, has reportedly offered to resign from his post.
Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Undersecretary Eliseo Rio Jr. (DICT / MANILA BULLETIN)
In his resignation letter dated January 30, Rio said it had been an "honor" for him to work under President Duterte's "great administration."
"It has truly been an honor...being given the chance to establish the third major telecommunications player in the industry which is sure to bring about a significant change in telecommunication market for the benefit of the Filipino people," Rio wrote.
However, in an interview with ANC Monday, Rio said the President has not yet accepted his resignation.
" not yet that's why I could not come up with more details about the resignation," he said.
Rio, in the same interview, said he felt like he was "no longer needed" in the agency that's why he resigned.
"I'm 75 years old, I thought that finally, to really spend more time with my family so that is the main reason for my resignation and of course the environment in DICT has changed, Sec. Honasan got in and talented young people and maybe they should be given more chance to work on...," he added.
Rio, who also served as Acting Secretary of the Department prior Sen. Gringo Honasan's appointment, also highlighted some of his achievements during his term in his letter, including the extension of the validity of prepaid load to one year, and the "lowering of interconnection charges to make text messages and call cheaper."
Rio also took pride in being able to "conduct the successful bidding and award of the new major telecommunications player in the industry to complete wit the existing telecommunications duopoly in the country."
The former DICT Acting Secretary also mentioned the following initiatives as contributors to "a significant spike in investments in the information and communications technology sector":
- The free use of the 6,200 km dark fiver for the Transco/National Grid Corporation of the Philippines as backbone for the country's National Broadband Program;
- The execution and establishment of two (2) cable landing stations that would provide the government with two (2) terabit per second (tbps) of international bandwidth that is worth P 4.6 billion annually;
- Initiation of the Accelerated Common Tower Build-up which would put up at least 50,000 towers in the Philippines to cope with the growing demand for better telecommunication services and Passive Telecommunication Infrastructure Provider.