House panel approves proposed ONE Philippines Act

The House Committee on Information and Communications Technology chaired by

Rep. Joel Roy R. Duavit (1
st
District Ri!al" has approved for floor deliberation a measure
that see#s to create Community Information and Communications Technology Centers
(CICTCs" and$or ICT Hubs in every legislative district of the country.
House %ill &'() to be #no*n as the +,n-line .et*or# /stablishment 0olicy for the
0hilippines1 or the +ONE 0hilippines 2ct1 establishes a nation*ide inter-connectivity
among local government units (345s" from ma6or cities through ICT Hubs to simple
barangays through the CICTCs.
The measure is the substitute bill to House %ill 77&& authored by Rep. Rose 8arie
+%aby1 2renas (7
rd
District 0angasinan".
House %ill &'() identifies through the Information and Communications
Technology ,ffice (D,9T-ICT," the areas in every legislative district *here the CICTCs
or ICT Hubs shall be located pursuant to the development of a comprehensive Internet
superhigh*ay national ICT plan and the national provincial city or municipal spatial and
development plans 2renas said.
2s defined under the measure ICT Hub refers to a center or location *here services
may be provided through the use of ICT *ith a minimum speed of & megabits per second
(8bps". 9uch services may include telecommunications services broadband and
convergence services business processing and data management.
2ccording to 2renas the measure also encourages private sector to establish ICT
Hubs or CICTCs in accordance *ith the standards set by the ICT,.
+IT-related industries %0,$contact centers and tourism are among the priority
investment areas in the Investment 0riority 0lan. :ith more investment in these industries
especially in information and technology *e should be able to create more ICT Hubs in
every legislative district in the country1 2renas said.
2renas said the 0hilippines has (7& legislative districts in ;1 provinces. If this bill
becomes a la* (7& nodes can be established to pump prime economic activities and
promote development in every province.
The bill hopes to minimi!e the so-called digital divide as *ell as speed up the
setting up of a *ireless communication technology 2renas added.
2renas stressed that *ith an ICT Hub< each legislative district in the country *ill be
able to harness its potential into ma#ing it investor-friendly and accessible. It can also
NR # 3588
SEPT. 13, 2014
electronically promote the provinces= nerve centers to connect to the various agencies of
the national government thereby pushing the gro*th of e-government locally and
nationally.
+The ICT Hub can also lin# a province to the national government during times of
national calamities and disasters. 8ore importantly *ith the ICT Hub the archipelagic
feature of the country can be bridges thereby creating ,ne 0hilippines1 2renas said.
The bill proposes to give incentives to locator enterprise or 0ublic
Telecommunications /ntity (0T/" in the ICT Hub or CICTC as provided for under
e>isting la*s in addition to the incentives given by the local government unit *here such
ICT Hub or CICTC is located.
2 fine of 07????? through the .ational Telecommunications Commission (.TC"
shall be imposed on violators for committing the follo*ing acts@ non-disclosure non-
interconnection or non-compliance *ith the committed information rate and Auality of
service.
8oreover the measure proposes to create an advisory council tas#ed to solicit
inputs for the policy direction coordination and supervision in the establishment of ICT
Hubs and$or CICTCs in every legislative district of the country.
Co-authors of the measure are Reps. Beli> :illiam Buentebella (&
th
District
Camarines 9ur" 8ariano 8ichael Celarde (0arty-list %5H2D" Rodrigo 2bellanosa ((
nd
District Cebu City" .eri Colmenares (0arty-list %2D2. 85.2" 2ntonio Tinio (0arty-
list 2CT T/2CH/R9" Terry Ridon (0arty-list %2D2. 85.2" Raul Del 8ar (1
st
District Cebu City" Romero Bederico Euimbo ((
nd
District 8ari#ina City" 9haron 4arin
(0arty-list 228%I9-,:2" Raneo 2bu ((
nd
District %atangas" /strellita 9uansing (1
st
District .ueva /ci6a" 8ercedes 2lvare! ()
th
District .egros ,ccidental" 8agnolia Rosa
2ntonino-.adres (&
th
District .ueva /ci6a" Jose Fubiri III (7
rd
District %u#idnon" and
Cictoria .oel (0arty-list 2. :2R2D". (7?" lvc