SENATORIAL candidate Herbert “Bistek” Bautista yesterday urged government to engage in more programs to bridge the digital divide that continues to hinder Philippine progress, especially in the education and business sector.
“Those studying online, the students, then our businesses will not only get stronger (but) even our transactions with other countries will improve,” said Bautista, a three-term mayor of Quezon City, the Philippines’ largest city in terms of land area.
“That’s what you call digital divide. We should narrow the digital divide so we have a chance to compete with other nations because of our digital infrastructure,” said Bautista, who is running for senator on a platform of Internet reform, Livelihood for all and Youth development, or ILY.
Bautista said during his trips to provinces in the Visayas and Mindanao, he saw how internet connectivity remains a dream for millions of people.
“We keep looking at internet in urban centers, we say it’s improving. But wait until you see areas that have no internet connection at all,” he said.
In some areas in Southern Leyte province, for example, residents of several remote towns have to travel several kilometers to pick up cell phone signals to make a call or send a text message.
“What is lacking in these areas?” said Bautista. “The telco companies do not want to invest because they believe these areas are losing propositions,” he added.
While he lauded the free wi-fi project of the Department of Information and Communication Technology, he lamented that government resources are insufficient to bring end-user connection to places that have no internet connections at all.
“We cannot narrow the digital divide if we won’t invest in it,” he said.
