CICT NOW UNDER DOST: ICT INDUSTRY IN SHOCK AS CICT DEMOTED
MANILA, JULY 3, 2011 (MANILA TIMES) Originally posted on Newsbytes.ph
The local ICT industry is said to be extremely disappointed with a recent executive order (EO) issued by Pres. Noynoy Aquino making the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) a mere office and putting it under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
"[T]he industry feels so bad about this development," said outgoing CICT commissioner Monchito Ibrahim, who confirmed the existence of the EO 47 which was reportedly signed by Aquino on June 23 but was only released by Malacanang on Thursday, June 30.
Local ICT stakeholders were surprised by the EO since the CICT was being groomed to become a full-fledged Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) through a number of bills pending in Congress. The administrative issuance effectively demotes the agency into a bureau called Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO).
According to a report by GMA News Online, the ICTO will be headed by an executive director with the rank of undersecretary, who will report directly to the DOST secretary. The positions of chairman and commissioners of the CICT will also be abolished, the report added.
Under the EO, the current agencies under the administrative supervision of CICT will be equally distributed to the DOST and the Office of the President.
Thus, the National Computer Center (NCC) and the Telecommunications Office (Telof) will be transferred to the DOST and will form part of the internal structure of the ICTO.
On the other hand, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHILPOST) will continue to be under the Office of the President.
The issuance of the EO also comes as a surprise since Aquino recently named Oliver Chato as a new commissioner of the CICT.
Fortunato dela Pena, the undersecretary of the DOST who earlier conveyed the department's opposition to the creation of the DICT in a Senate hearing, said in a text message that the transfer of the CICT to the DOST is a "big challenge".
"I am in public service and I believe we have to do our best to implement the change," dela Pena said. "ICT's important role in our lives, in our work, and in our economy should be kept in mind by whoever is given the responsibility for it."
Early this year, Newsbytes.ph broke a story on CICT chair Ivan Uy, who said that he had an inkling that he was on his way out of the position.
The CICT was created in 2004 through a similar EO issued by then Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Under Aquino, the CICT's powers were severely clipped, with DOST taking a lead role in a number of ICT-related issues. Manuel "Mar" Roxas II, a known oppositor of the DICT, was also recently installed as DOTC secretary.
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