Sunday, September 1, 2019

Honasan: Connecting remote villages to internet will help end insurgency in Bicol

From the Philippine Information Agency (Sep 1, 2019): Honasan: Connecting remote villages to internet will help end insurgency in Bicol

LEGAZPI CITY (PIA) — With President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s marching order to “connect everybody,” Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Gregorio Honasan stressed that information and communication services are essential to end communist insurgency.


The RTF-ELCAC ‘Katoninongan asin Kauswagan’ discusses its interventions to end insurgency during the 3rd Quarter Meeting with DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan at RDC Hall, NEDA Region 5, Rawis, Legazpi City, August 19, 2019. (Photo courtesy of LGU of Legazpi)
Honasan, also Cabinet Officer for Regional Development in Bicol, disclosed that there would be an additional 1,000 Mbps to the existing 200Mbps connectivity in the region.

This is to provide a cheaper, if not free, and more secure internet connection in Bicol by the end of 2019, he said.

Honasan added that DICT has a program to provide internet connection up to the far-flung villages to ensure that they are also informed of the government’s programs and services.

Through this, people in far areas can also raise their issues and concerns while the government can take actions and respond to them, he said.

“We will connect in every far-flung village, even if there are no voters in that area and even if there’s only one person in that place,” Honasan said.

He added that they might use broadband, fiber optic or any other means they can possibly use specifically for the far-flung areas to secure internet connection.

During the third full council meeting of the Regional task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) known as Task Force Katoninongan Asin Kauswagan, Secretary Honasan emphasized the accuracy of data in communications to address the real issue on communist insurgency.

He said one solution to the armed conflict is to take concrete actions based on the accurate data or information disseminated.

Honasan lauded the Bicol region for advancing the implementation of Executive Order (EO) 70 which institutionalizes the “Whole of Nation Approach” in attaining inclusive and sustainable peace.


“Bicol is very advance in implementing EO 70 and such experience would be made a prototype for the nationwide implementation,” he stated.

Military has reported that 277 villages in Bicol arepoverty-stricken areas and infiltrated by communist rebel groups.

“Let us unite to end insurgency. local government units should be the frontline in providing their constituents’ needs to end insurgency. Likewise, we should also support our local governments,” Honasan said. (PIA-5)

https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1026612

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