Marcos calls Pinoys in various areas to check online connectivity
To check if the activation of previously offline areas in the Philippines was effective, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. made a surprise video call to various communities in the country.

According to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), a total of 4,757 live sites were activated in 17 regions, 75 provinces, including the National Capital Region under the government’s digitalization initiative—Broadband ng Masa (BBM).
In a short video posted on the President's official Facebook page on Monday, Dec. 26, he shared making a video call to various areas as far as Zamboanga City on Christmas.
"Gusto kong subukan kung talagang yung sinasabi sa'kin ni Sec. Ivan (John Uy) e talagang gumagana (I just wanted to check if what Sec. Ivan told me is effective)," Marcos said in the video.
"E mukha namang maganda itong bagong ating connection. Yung iba't ibang lugar nagkaroon na ng internet kaya't dadagdagan pa natin (Looks like our new connection is good. Different areas have internet connection, so let's add more)," he added.
During the video call, the President reiterated to Uy his intention to activate internet connection in more areas, especially the remote places.
"Buti na lang maraming bagong teknolohiya na pwede nating gamitin na we are taking full advantage of para naman kahit saan sa Pilipinas e makaramdam tayo ng connectivity, at napakaimportante na ngayon niyan e (Good thing we now have many new technology we can take full advantage of so that wherever we are in the Philippines, we can feel that there's connectivity, and that's very important now)," Marcos stressed.
The DICT said the over 4,700 activated live sites are in addition to the 606 cities and municipalities which have undergone digitalization.
The President said this is just the beginning.
"Umpisa pa lang ito. Gagawin natin ito para masabi natin na lahat ng Pinoy kayang kausapin lahat ng ibang Pinoy na ibig sabihin may connectivity na tayo lalong lalo na yung mga bata, yung mga nag-oopisina, yung mga nagtatrabaho (This is just the beginning. We are doing this so that all Filipinos can communicate with other Filipinos that it means we have connectivity, especially for the children and workers)," Marcos said.