Rep. Juan Carlos “Arjo” Atayde joins fellow lawmakers at the 31st Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) Roundtable of Young Parliamentarians at the PICC in Manila. (Photo from Atayde’s office)
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives seeks to leverage digital technologies to boost the government’s interconnectivity and responsiveness, Quezon City First District Rep. Juan Carlos “Arjo” Atayde stated on Monday at the 31st Asian Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) Roundtable of Young Parliamentarians in Manila.
The plan, Atayde said, would “broaden our reach and improve our responsiveness to our people’s needs.”
This is highlighted in Republic Act No. 10844, which established the Department of Information and Communications Technology, he pointed out.
The House also recently approved House Bill No. (HB) 7327 — or the proposed E-Governance Act — “to harmonize and coordinate the digitalization efforts of all government offices and agencies.”
“The proposed legislation lays the groundwork for a data transmission industry that is open, fair, and interoperable,” Atayde, who is one of the principal authors of the bill, said in a statement he delivered at the forum.
“It is my belief that stimulating private sector involvement is key to ensuring our country’s digital transformation is as inclusive as possible,” he added.
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The House passed another measure — HB No. 6 or the proposed Open Access in Data Transmission Act — to address concerns that digitalization “risks widening educational, socio-economic, and urban-rural inequalities.”
Atayde assured the House was very well aware of the need to balance digital innovation with security — which should be covered by the Data Privacy Act, the Cybercrime Prevention Act, and the SIM Registration Act.