Bongbong Marcos vows to expand internet services to remote areas

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has reiterated his administration’s commitment to put up the Broadband ng Masa (BBM) and Free Wi-Fi for All Programs in far-flung areas for the country’s progress in terms of technological advancements.The President was the surprise guest at the online “kamustahan” (meet-and-greet) for BBM program recipients that the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) hosted on Christmas Eve.

In the excerpts of the Zoom videoconference that the Palace released on Monday and Tuesday, Mr. Marcos said he decided to be a “gate-crasher” at the event to see for himself how the DICT was implementing the BBM program.“Our new connection is good, many places already have internet and we will be adding more, especially in the remote areas because they need it most, including the children for their schooling. It’s a good thing there are plenty of technologies that we can use, that we can take advantage of so that the entire Philippines can experience connectivity and that is very important nowadays,” he said.

According to the President, the BBM program would be expanded to remote and far-flung provinces to enable all Filipinos to connect with families, friends and colleagues from virtually anywhere in the Philippines.“This is just the beginning. We will do this so that we can say that all Filipinos are able to contact other Filipinos,” he said.

Mr. Marcos also underscored that the government’s digitalization initiatives would be useful for students and families in rural communities.

As of now, about 4,757 live sites have been activated nationwide under the said programs.Participants in the online kamustahan included Information and Communication Secretary Ivan John Uy and regional directors, as well as students, teachers and representatives from various schools. INQ

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