The Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) has convinced Malacañang to make permanent a soon-to-expire joint agreement making it easier for the telecommunications companies to build telco towers helping speed up the country’s drive towards the digitalization of transactions.
This relates to the July 2020 implementation of the Anti-Red Tape Authority’s (ARTA) Joint Memorandum Circulars (JMC) streamlining the guidelines on telco towers and Internet infrastructure,
PSAC Digital Infrastructure lead and Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) Chief Technology and Operations Officer Henry Aguda reported to the President that since then the efficiency of telco permit processing by the various local government units (LGU) tremendously improved.
Aguda reported the construction of shared telco towers that used to take eight months to process is completed in only 16 days and that the number of permits has been cut from 13 to only eight. Additionally, the necessary documentation has also been reduced to 35 instead of 86 in the past.
As a result, the construction of telco towers increased by 300 percent as 7,000 new telco towers have been built since the issuance of an executive order (EO) up to the time Aguda reported these developments on Thursday.
Additionally, for the building of poles, construction of underground fiber ducts, and installation of aerial and underground cable and facilities to support Internet infrastructure, processing time was immensely shortened from two and a half years to just two and a half months.
It has only been five months since their initial meeting with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. last August 2022 the PSAC Digital Infrastructure group already showed fruitful results of their collaborations with government agencies.
However, the current Executive Order (EO) that resulted in these improvements is set to expire in June 2023, prompting the PSAC to recommend the issuance of a new EO making the permanent adoption and enforcement of the ARTA joint memorandum circulars (JMC) by relevant government agencies and local government units.
ARTA Director General Ernest V. Perez supported the call.
“PSAC fully agrees with the government that we are entering an age of adoption of technology. We are either left behind or we take that challenge head on. Here together, private and public sector, we are in a shared belief and commitment that technology has the power to uplift every Filipino. We saw it during the pandemic, and we see it as the path moving the nation forward and beyond,” Aguda said.
The members of the Digital Infrastructure group provided invaluable insights and expertise into what digitalization could achieve for the country and, more importantly, the key steps to take to become a digital nation. Aguda was joined by the members of the PSAC Digital Infrastructure group: PLDT President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Al Panlilio, Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu, and Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Chief Operating Officer (COO) Ramon Jocson.
PSAC strategic convenor and Aboitiz Group President and CEO Sabin Aboitiz underscored the value of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) as the Philippines revitalizes the economy. PPPs address limited public funding and take advantage of private sector expertise.
President Marcos accepted PSAC’s recommendation to accelerate the adoption and implementation of the national Digital PhilID through the PPP before the end of 2023.
Given also concerns over port congestion and smuggling that adversely affect the economy and trade, PSAC recommended considering digital solutions. PSAC urged the President issue a JMC with multipartite agencies and establish an inter-agency mechanism for the implementation and deployment of the Trusted Operator Program-Container Registry Monitoring System (TOP-CRMS), complementing government anti-smuggling operations and capabilities.
PSAC also recommended convening Pilipinas GoDigital at the end of this month, focused on digital upskilling and education. The inclusive movement will reach out to all Filipinos, from the youth labor force, already known for agility and talent, to rural workers, who are the unsung backbone of our society and will also include indigenous people, the elderly, and persons deprived of liberty, among others. GoDigital will take cues from the success of UnionBank’s Tahanang Walang Hagdanan initiative to train differently abled persons as data analysts who can remotely monitor transactions.
Also at the meeting were National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, NEDA Undersecretary and Chief of Staff Melbourne Ziro D. Pana, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Undersecretary David L. Almirol, Jr., DICT Assistant Secretary for Upskilling Jeffrey Ian C. Dy, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Claire Dennis S. Mapa, and Department of Transportation (DOT) Undersecretary for Maritime Elmer Francisco U. Sarmiento.
