President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. said the country is at risk of falling behind its Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) neighbors in its post pandemic recovery targets unless it can ramp up its “connectivity rate.”
During the Telecommunication Summit at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City last Tuesday, Marcos said the country has around 70 percent “connectivity rate” compared to its neighboring countries.
“So I think – and that’s why we will have to compete and we will have to cooperate with our neighbors in the region, and to do that, we must be at the very least at the same level of digitalization as they are. Right now, we are not quite there but let us work hard at it,” Marcos said.
He noted a higher connectivity rate will allow the country to “flourish” in the post-pandemic as well as to effectively come out with synergies with the private sector.
“The private sector is highly digitalized. So if we are to do business with the private sector, the government must also be highly digitalized,” Marcos said.
The President urged the telecommunication firms, particularly those who participated in the summit. to help the government to ensure more citizens enjoy sufficient mobile and internet connectivity.
He said the government has launched several initiatives to improve the connectivity rate in the country.
These initiatives include the BroadBand ng Masa Program, the Free Wi-Fi for All Program, the Zamboanga-Basilan Wireless Broadband Network programs.
“So with your support, your cooperation, your active participation in these endeavors, I am confident that we can build a digital backbone that is not only strong, efficient, robust, but it also exhibits the hallmarks of accessibility, reliability, and inclusiveness,” Marcos said.