Philippine Senator Sees Passage of Bill Creating DICT Within a Month

In a press release posted on the Philippine Senate website, Senator Edgardo J. Angara, Chair of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, said that he believes that the bill seeking to establish the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) may be passed within a month.

"This is the final meeting of the committee after we thoroughly discuss the amendments made by the Technical Working Group on the scope of the bill in terms of coverage of agencies with ICT functions as well as the approved budgets. I hope that within the month or within September, we will have a new Department of Communications," Angara said before the public hearing of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, held on August 6.

Under Senate Bill 920, the proposed DICT will absorb the following agencies: the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) currently under the Office of the President, the National Computer Center (NCC) currently a component agency of the CICT, the Telecommunications Office (TELOF) of the DOTC, the communications functions of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), and the Communications Planning Service Division of the DOTC.