By Tom S. Noda
May 3, 2010
Although presidential candidates for the May 2010 national elections have been announcing their various platforms for the country in their campaign, little is known about their stand on information and communications technology (ICT), which industry advocates view as a “vital tool for national development and growth.”
In this special report of Computerworld Philippines, the top five presidential candidates (based on surveys) share their platforms for ICT, which they agree has an effect on almost all kinds of national concern be it on the economy like trade and finance, national security, environment, healthcare and foreign affairs, to name a few.
The candidates we interviewed for this feature are Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III (Liberal Party), Richard Gordon (Bagumbayan), Manny Villar (Nacionalista Party), Gilberto “Gibo” Cojuangco Teodoro, Jr. (Lakas-Kampi-CMD), and Eddie Villanueva (Bangon Pilipinas Party).
Among the tech platforms the candidates shared are their plans on how to further develop the local ICT industry, their opinions on past and future ICT bills, and strategies on how the country can leverage on the booming business process outsourcing (BPO) industry which is expected to exceed a record breaking US$9 billion revenues this year.
Meanwhile, ICT industry advocates, both from government and private sectors, also shared their recommendations and suggestions in order to guide the next president of the Philippines to come up with effective ICT strategies. Computerworld Philippines interviewed groups such as the Commission on ICT (CICT) for the government sector, and the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPA/P) and the IT Association of the Philippines (ITAP) for the private sector.
PEOPLE EMPOWERMENT
The only son of the late Aquino couple – former senator Ninoy and former President Cory, who are known advocates of democracy and people power in the Philippines – Noynoy Aquino believes IT development can help empower the people in terms of job generation.
He says the positive values that can be drawn out of IT can be achieved by helping citizens, particularly students, if they can further develop their technology skills. “Through education, IT can be one of the best means to further empower the people and get them new job opportunities. The whole gamut of IT can help even the creative side,” Aquino told Computerworld Philippines at the presidential forum hosted by the People’s Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP).
An economist by education and a lawmaker by vocation, Aquino admits he is not technology-savvy but sees IT as a tool that can help improve the country’s economic situation.
“I’m not really much of a techie but IT is a tool that can be used properly,” he comments. Aquino, however, warns “it is a truism that when people want to make a lot of money, they will go into something few people understands.”
He adds “definitely, we will make sure that what was tried and forced on us with the ZTE deal will not happen.”
However, when asked about his views on the clamor for the country to finally have a Department of ICT (DICT), Aquino seems to share Senator Mar Roxas’ reported stand— which is “no” to a department. Roxas is Aquino’s running mate under the Liberal Party for vice president position.
Reports say Roxas opposes the creation of a DICT to avoid bloating the bureaucracy.
“I’m still studying the need to create a new department. The problem is there are a lot of departments already. We have lots of offices, and officers that are not actually doing something useful,” he explains in Filipino.
Aquino even wonders how many people are already presidential consultants, advisers, secretaries with no titles, also undersecretary, assistant secretary, and with all their assistant staffs.
Aquino served as congressman from 1998 to 2007. He has been a senator of the republic since May 2007 until today.
AUTOMATION RULES
For Senator Gordon, automation is the name of the game, be it in healthcare, national elections and, especially, in education.
During a forum at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, Gordon told Computerworld that he began the campaign for using ICT in government.
“I started this (ICT). When I was chairman of Subic there were GPS (global positioning system) and GIS (geographic information system) in our ambulances. I’ve been encouraging our people to use them since then,” he claims.
And as chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC), Gordon claims the humanitarian organization is now “fully automated” with the use of GPS and GIS not just in ambulances but also in all of the group’s trucks and equipment. He has been a volunteer of the PNRC for 40 years.
Gordon is hailed by many as a “transformational leader” because of his legacy in transforming Olongapo’s “Sin City” (Subic) into a modern and model city during his mayoralty in the 1980s. When he was elected as senator in 2004, he sponsored the Automated Election System law. He believes it will help the country achieve a clean, honest, fair, and credible elections.
“I don’t have to show my achievements when it comes to ICT in this country. I’ve done it. I sponsored the automated elections and fought for it for four and one half years and I got it done,” Gordon exclaims, referring to the upcoming 2010 automated national elections which will be the first time in Philippine history.
According to Gordon, Filipinos should start thinking in terms of creativity, especially on software IT innovations.
“We must be the builders of new software, of new platforms to reach the heavens with our ideas,” remarks Gordon.
However, he claims that in order to further advance the country’s BPO industry, Filipinos must improve on their soft skills in English.
“We have to continue not just speaking in English but thinking in English. In the meantime, you have to get a better value out of our people because if we don’t do that, the Chinese and the other countries are going to try and get there as well. So we have to be nimble,” he says.
Gordon continues that among his concrete solutions to further develop the BPO talent pool in the Philippines are the establishments of “incubators” in universities and by providing students with a US$100 Kindle – a wireless electronic reading device that can be stocked with electronic versions of books and other printed materials. He sees the Kindle more helpful and useful compared to the Php4,000 worth of books that the government spends per student every year.
“With incubators in every university, kids can do their research, do their study, and make platforms there,” he says. “I would like to get our people in the United States to comeback. I would send more kids to go out there as scholars and have them return here as computer engineers and computer scientists.”
For his Kindle proposal, Gordon says the target is for kids to read more. Comparing books and wireless devices, Gordon says “books are often marred with errors.” With a Kindle, he says students will even get the right pronunciation of words, learn their history or etymology, or simply find anything by way of research.
Gordon shares he would love the country to have a DICT but its bill was left “stranded” during the Senate’s last session day in Feb. 3, when Senator Villar did a surprise speech defending his self from the C-5 road controversy.
IT INVESTMENTS
Meanwhile, Gibo Teodoro vows to pursue his priority strategies for ICT if ever he wins as the new president of the republic. Topping his list is IT investments.
“First and foremost, we must increase investment in ICT. Definitely, government must support the infrastructure necessary for greater interconnections; connectivity not only in schools but also in public infrastructure and in the enterprise private sector,” Teodoro told Computerworld Philippines during an ambush interview at the Perpetual Help University in Las Pinas City.
Teodoro says ICT can help many agencies and believes that a lot of efficiencies can be achieved through it. As the former head of both Department of National Defense (DND) and Natural Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), Teodoro believes IT can be a tool in helping the country prepare for and respond more effectively to natural and man-made disasters.
“There is a lot that can be done. From early warnings, to monitoring of levels of floods, to prediction of weather patterns, ICT can help,” Teodoro says.
Second to his ICT plans is the crecreation of what he calls “ICT professionals development.”
“The service of IT professionals is one of the best areas where there are growth potentials and we really have to synergize that. Filipinos in those areas can compete, not only when it comes to hardware but in terms of brain power,” Teodoro says.
Teodoro adds he will call for the passage of bills in the legislature that will give incentives for greater investments for ICT. “But this is without creating another layer to the bureaucracy,” he says, referring to the creation of DICT.
Although concerned about security, Teodoro admits he does not support the creation of the Cybercrime Law.
“There is difficulty. Number one, what’s the origin? Number two is the monitoring of an actual person. Even in the US there is a big difficulty in that,” says Teodoro.
Teodoro is also a licensed commercial pilot and holds rank as colonel in the Philippine Air Force Reserve Force. At 45, he is the youngest person to ever achieve the DND secretary position.
IT LEARNING
For his part, Villanueva says he will push for the creation of what he terms as the Commission on Human Resource Development or CHRD that will focus on the massive development of ICT skills in the country to contribute to nation building.
“We will transform state colleges and universities, and even grant incentives to private educational institutions to really produce scientists and mathematicians in order to invent new knowledge, products and processes,” says Villanueva, who puts a premium value on ICT.
A former professor of economics at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), Villanueva says that in today’s global economic development, IT plays a vital role in creativity, innovation, and resourcefulness.
Villanueva says global competitiveness is shifting to knowledge-based economies, which is the primary reason why he fully supports allocating budget in the promotion of ICT as an integral part of educational programs.
“ICT brings value-added production in the economies, so we must ensure the mandate and practices of science high schools, producing graduates which are not only competent but also world-class in software programming, in Internet or network technology,” he says.
TRANSPARENCY VIA ICT
Aligned with Villar’s promise in alleviating poverty in the country is to curb corruption by using ICT. And one sure fire way, he says, is to capitalize on ICT to achieve transparency in government.
“We believe that ICT, when optimally used by the government, can provide limitless opportunities. One of which is the use of appropriate facilities by which transparency is directly available to the public,” Villar says, adding that he intends to utilize and maximize the benefits that can be derived from ICT.
Among the senator’s plans is to provide linkage between the government and the public through ICT by means of radio, TV, the Internet, among others, as he believes they will ensure transparency of government transactions as well as efficient delivery of information to a wider audience.
“We will also capitalize on available technologies to streamline business processes to cut bureaucracy and reduce red tape, thereby saving operational costs for the government,” he adds.
Villar believes his platform for ICT can be specifically achieved through the passage of the Freedom of Information Act. “The Senate has ratified the bicameral conference committee version of the bill, which seeks to establish a policy of transparency and free information access to the public.”
He stresses that the use of ICT in government transactions can expedite delivery of services, thereby promoting easy access to public records, transparency, and accountability.
An entrepreneur by profession, Villar says he aims to develop further the local BPO industry by improving the investment climate in the Philippines, which he claims is his party’s main thrust.
“We really would like to strengthen our service industries such as BPOs and Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPOs). This will be done through our continued support to these industries through stable policies involving their sector,” he says. “More so, we will try to make sure that we have the proper mix of human resources to meet their demands. This can be done by upgrading our quality of education.”
Villar describes BPO, tourism and agriculture sectors as “key priorities” in his platform of government as they are all labor-intensive. “These industries create more jobs and at a faster rate, thus providing an effective solution to unemployment problems in the country.”
However, he doesn’t have a final say yet when it comes to DICT’s creation but claims he is “pliant” or open-minded about changes. “There are competing sides for the DICT. Thus we want to further study these sides so we can make informed decisions.”
But with regards to the Cybercrime bill, Villar says he is all out for its legislation into law.
“We are, in fact, one of the authors of the Cybercrime Prevention Act filed in the Senate. We believe that it is about time that the Philippines have a legislation criminalizing cybercrimes as at this point such criminals usually go scot-free due to gaps in the penal law in our criminal justice system,” Villar says.
With all their various plans for the local ICT sector, the candidates come to terms as to the importance of IT in this era. And that is, almost all industries will need IT empowerment to achieve growth at a faster scale.
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