President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. starts his third State of the Nation Address (Sona) at the Batasan plenary hall on Monday, July 22, 2024. —Screenshot from an RTVM livestream
MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers should prioritize allotting proper funding for digital infrastructures projects after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made the pronouncement of the status of the projects in his 3rd State of the Nation Address (Sona), an international think tank said on Friday.
Stratbase Institute highlighted the importance of having proper budget in stabilizing the digital infrastructures to address the digital gaps in the country.
“The President said some P3 trillion pesos in total investments in various sectors have already been green lane certified,” said Stratbase Institute President Victor Manhit.
“This is well and good, but our legislators should already be looking ahead and prioritize the funding of Phases 2 and 3 of the national fiber backbone as soon as possible,” he added.
Marcos announced in his third Sona that the first phase of the National Fiber Backbone program has been operationalized. The second and third phase began this year and is expected to be completed in 2026.
READ: Marcos: Nat’l broadband program gains ground, ‘common towers’ pushed
“This fiber backbone will give us efficient capacity in terms of bandwidth,” said the President.
Stratbase said that backbone “intends to improve” the country’s internet connectivity where 20.6 million households are connected to the internet in 2022.
The think tank also lauded the Chief Executive for acknowledging the efforts of private organizations in pushing for a more improved internet connectivity for the country.
READ: Nat’l Fiber Backbone launched, starting with Laoag-QC phase
“But while much has been done, a lot more needs to be accomplished so that our economy can truly become digitally empowered, and our people truly digitally capable,” Manhit added.
The first phase of the national fiber backbone would cover 1,245 kilometers from Laoag City in Ilocos Norte to Quezon City, expected to extend the digital lifeline to more than 3,000 free Wi-Fi sites, benefitting around 750,000 in the two areas.