Team DailyPedia
Another candidate, Vice President Jejomar Binay, promises free wi-fi connectivity for the entire country. Last December, during the launch of Lingkod Kabitenyo, Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla’s project to grant free wi-fi access in schools and households in the province, Binay announced that “Kapag ako ay pinalad na maging inyong pangulo sa susunod na taon, gagayahin po natin ang proyekto ni Governor Jonvic dito sa Cavite at ipapatupad po natin ito sa buong bansa.” (If the odds favor me and I become president next year, I will emulate Governor Jonvic’s project here in Cavite and grant free wi-fi access in the entire country.)
Binay is also in favor of creating a separate government agency to oversee the improvement of communications infrastructure in the country that will be called DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology).
Former DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) Secretary Mar Roxas sympathizes with internet subscribers, saying “I feel your pain because I go through the same frustration in my home as well.”
Roxas, during a dialogue with executives and employees of call centers in Alabang, Muntinlupa last March 7, said that the solution lies with the “very simple matter of truth in advertising.” He explained that the government should compel telcos to deliver the speeds they advertise. “‘Minimum of’ means that so many hours of the period must be at that rate. And then you penalize the firms when they’re not able to deliver,” Roxas said.
In 2013, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago—in filing the Magna Carta for Philippine Internet Freedom—had in mind undertaking the establishment of a comprehensive state framework for the administration of information and communication technology in the Philippines.
The bill provides for universal access to the internet under Section 5, and even prevents persons or establishments (such as hotels, cafés, etc.) offering free or paid wi-fi from restricting internet access or limiting the content that may be accessed by guests or employees “without reasonable ground.”
Another section of the bill allows state protection and promotion of innovation and prohibits restricting or denying “the right to develop new information and communications technologies, without due process of law.” Section 7 of the bill states further that “no person shall be denied access to new information and communications technologies, nor shall any new information and communications technologies be blocked, censored, suppressed, or otherwise restricted, without due process of law or authority vested by law.”
