The implementation of the National Broadband Plan (NBP) next year is expected to improve the country's Internet speed.

Thus, said House Speaker Martin Romualdez who noted that P1.5 billion worth of funds have been allocated to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) project under the proposed 2023 national budget.

"The Internet is a critical social service nowadays, as it is deeply entrenched in the way we live. We use the Internet for education, for delivering and availing social services, for our businesses, and for almost every facet of our lives,” Romualdez said in a statement Monday, Nov. 28.

Romualdez--Leyte’s 1st district representative--said the P1.5 billion allocation to the NBP is part of the P77-billion institutional amendments made by the lower chamber to augment the budget for education, health, transportation, and other critical social services.

Incidentally, the Bicameral Conference Committee meetings between the House of Representatives and Senate on the proposed P5.268-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2023 began last Friday.

A member of the House contingent to the bicam, Committee on Appropriations Chairman and Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co, said for NBP allocation will go a long way in jumpstarting the program meant to provide the backbone for Internet service in all government agencies nationwide.

Co said that currently, there are areas in the country that have no Internet service due to inaccessibility.

"We can now use the bandwidth given by Facebook once the DICT conducts the rollout of national broadband infrastructure, which will now be finally funded,” the Bicolano said.

"He was talking about the earlier agreement forged by DICT, Facebook, and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), wherein Facebook agreed to provide the Philippine government with spectrum equivalent to at least two million megabits per second (Mbps) once the Internet infrastructure has been established.