TARLAC CITY – Reelected in Tarlac’s second district and again appointed to chair the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Rep. Victor Yap has vowed to push faster internet and SIM registration, among some of his other proposals which have remained pending in the last Congress.
In an interview with Punto via internet, Yap said his priority measures remain to include the Open Access in Data Transmission Act and the amendment to Republic Act 7925, otherwise known as the Public Telecommunications Policy Act.
“These bills, respectively, seek to make internet speed in the country faster, and improve the quality of telecommunications service through boosting the much-needed growth of ICT in the country and enable it to respond to the global trend towards digital economy”, Yap pointed out.
Yap is also set to prioritize bills that were approved by the House during the previous Congress that remained pending in the Senate, such as the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card Registration Act that will help law enforcement agencies in tracking down lawless criminals who would use mobile phones with prepaid SIM cards to pursue nefarious activities.
“Other approved bills during the 17th Congress under my ICT Committee Chairmanship include the Online Network Establishment Policy that provides for a policy framework for an online network establishment to encourage the putting up of Community Information and Communications Technology Centers (CICTCs) and/ or ICT Hubs in every legislative district of the country”, he added.
“Also included in the list of my priority measure as Chairman of the ICT Committee is the Prepaid Load Protection Act, which seeks to prohibit the imposition of expiration on the validity of all prepaid calls and texts cards, the forfeiture of load credits, and to provide penalties for violation thereof”, Yap further added.
Yap noted that he will likewise support the passage of significant measures, including the E-Government Act, which seeks to “establish an effective E-Government plan that would create more valuable and meaningful services and strengthen the use of ICT within and across government agencies; and the Privacy of Communication Act that prohibits the interception and disclosure of oral, wire, or electronic communications and other violations of the right to privacy of communication.”
“I believe that these measures are aligned with the Committee’s mission to promote democratic accountability and people empowerment through transparent electronic governance”, Yap pointed out.
He said his committee is also to deliberate on other important measures to enhance efficiency and transparency in the allocation, assignment, and management of the Radio Frequency Spectrum, and to possibly amend the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
“Likewise, part of this representation’s legislative agenda is the enactment of bills on interconnection and convergence; cyberbullying, cybersecurity and cyberfraud; enactment of bills on telecommunications service and standards; and to institutionalize the establishment of the Philippine Big Data Center”, Yap stressed.
The ICT Committee, under the Chairmanship of Yap, passed meaningful legislation in the last Congress, such as Republic Act 10929 or the Free Internet Access in Public Areas, and Republic Act 11202, also known as the Mobile Number Portability Act.
The Committee’s jurisdiction covers “all matters relating to postal, telegraph, radio, broadcast, cable television, telephone, convergence, computers and telecommunications technologies including but not limited to broadband access to wired and wireless connectivity to the internet”.
