DICT BILL NOW SENATE'S MOVE--ANGARA

Senator Edgardo J. Angara called on his colleagues in the Senate to pass the measure establishing a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) upon the resumption of Congress, following the passage of a similar measure at the House of Representatives (House Bill No. 4667) shortly before the holiday break.

"Now we must urge our colleagues in the Senate to do the same with our counterpart DICT bill. The booming ICT industry in the Philippines needs a governing body to oversee, manage and regulate it," said Angara.

According to the veteran legislator, a similar bill filed in the previous Congress was passed at the Lower House and almost passed on the Third Reading in the Senate.

Angara then re-filed the bill in the Senate early in the 15th Congress as Senate Bill No. 50, the Department of Information and Communications Technology Act of 2010. The proposed agency would assume the communications-related responsibilities of the current Department of Transportation and Communication or DOTC.

Angara, Chair of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, sponsored the DICT Bill in September, explaining the urgent need for the measure.

"We must ensure the continued growth of this industry. We must avoid sending wrong signals to investors by moving quickly and providing a strategic direction and stability for this sector," he said.