The year 2022 closes with a significant event that shows government's inititative to lead the nation to digitalization.
According to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), an additional 628 operational free Wi-Fi sites have been established recently, on top of the existing 4,129 sites, bringing the nationwide total to 4,757. At least 2.1 million unique users, equivalent to 100,000 families, have access to the government’s free internet services.
The government’s digitalization initiative — Broadband ng Masa Program (BBMP) — seeks to fulfill President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s vow to provide “free internet access to all Filipinos.”
In a short video posted on the President’s official Facebook page on Monday, Dec. 26, he is shown making a video call to various areas as far as Zamboanga City on Christmas to check on the efficacy of this initiative.
He also participated in an Online Kamustahan organized by the (DICT) and on Christmas Eve, he led the virtual rollout of this program that provides free internet to students and teachers from geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs) nationwide. During the online gathering, he said the BBMP will be implemented in all remote islands, especially those without access to mobile cellular services.
Schools have been made the focal points of this outreach initiative. President Marcos also took the chance to talk to students and teachers who participated in the online event, including those who are from remote Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea.
Others who joined the virtual event were students and school representatives from Armenia Elementary School in Uson, Masbate; Bandera Elementary School in the Island Garden City of Samal in Davao del Norte; Amai Pakpak Central Elementary School in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur; Dioryong Integrated School in Nagtipunan, Quirino province; Villa Espina Elementary School in Lopez, Quezon; and Landang Laum Elementary School in Zamboanga City.
Aside from bringing digitalization to schools in far-clung communities, improvement of government services is also in the pipeline.
While the BBMP initiative underlines the government’s determination to attain higher levels of wireless connectivity, the 2022 Digital Quality of Life (DQL) Index report indicates how much more work needs to be done. The study indexes each country according to five criteria, namely: internet quality, e-government, e-infrastructure, internet affordability and e-security. The Philippines ranks 55th in the world — down from 48th last year — and 14th in Asia. The DQL report, prepared by Netherlands-based Surfshark, a Virtual Private Network and cybersecurity firm.
The Philippines’ best performance is in electronic security at 44th, while its weakest spot is internet affordability, where it placed 98th. This underlines the necessity for government to step in and provide access to remote islands and communities. The country ranked 45th in internet quality, 62nd in e-government and 65th in e-infrastructure.
With the President himself reaching out and finding out first-hand how the broadband initiative is faring; the people are assured that the government is proactively striving to improve their digital quality of life. Providing the DICT with a more substantial budget and encouraging the telcos to expand their reach are the logical next steps toward enhancing the country’s digital competitiveness.