ICT related key areas in SONA 2009

[Note: This is a reply to Mr. G.'s thread in USEP-IC forum - Assignment 7: On the assumption that you heard/read the SONA of the President last month, (July 2000), identify at least 3 areas related to ICT and identify how these areas can improve our quality of life.]

I have read the full text of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) which happened last July 27, 2009. Among the concerns of the Philippine government, I have noticed some points associated with information and communications technology (ICT) (which I think, should be one of my concerns, too, since I am a student of the same field), and here are some of them:

- creation of Department of ICT
- telecommunications issues (load)
- technology to anticipate natural calamities
- finance fully automated elections

I have taken note of these excerpts:

“Kung noong nakaraan, lumakas ang electronics, today we are creating wealth by developing the BPO and tourism sectors as additional engines of growth. Electronics and other manufactured exports rise and fall in accordance with the state of the world economy. But BPO remains resilient. With earnings of $6 billion and employment of 600,000, the BPO phenomenon speaks eloquently of our competitiveness and productivity. Let us have a Department of ICT.”

- Finally, the president made the urge to have a government sector that will take charge or concentrate on the country’s issues related to information and communications technology. In spite of the fact that we belong in third-world countries, we should not be limiting ourselves to reach the modernity and latest trends of technology that various countries around the world are using. If we could be competent in this field then it wouldn’t be hard on our part to use its benefits to our advantage. I am also glad that our nation’s economy is moving through business process outsourcing (BPO) which also helped many Filipinos acquire jobs here and abroad. This will aid unemployed people find jobs and eventually earn money to provide for their basic needs. In this case, BPO gives large opportunity especially for those new graduates who are venturing for some job vacancy. This means that we also have the skills and competitiveness that most foreign business companies are looking.


“Sa telecommunications naman, inatasan ko ang Telecommunications Commission na kumilos na tungkol sa mga sumbong na dropped calls at mga nawawalang load sa cellphone.”

- This is really one of the many things that greatly affect the mass of people especially in everyday life. Almost every Filipino, rich or poor, uses mobile phones as a means of communication. And almost everyone has (pretty sure!) experienced times when cellphone loads were stolen unexpectedly even it is not normally spent by the user. Most people say this is primarily due to cellphone promos or value-added services being offered by other companies. The telecommunication networks are most likely to be blamed since they are the ones which distribute cellphone loads. Fortunately, the government has found ways to prevent this further. Now the expiry dates of load amounts are being extended. And I’m pretty sure that most number of people will benefit from this. More and more users will have less worry on their load expiries and stolen load balance, thus making communication with their loved ones be it near or far, local or abroad, possible. That’s information traveled through communication devices.


“As a country in the path of typhoons and in the Pacific Rim of Fire, we must be prepared as the latest technology permits to anticipate natural calamities when that is possible…the mapping of flood- and landslide-prone areas is almost complete. Early warning, forecasting and monitoring systems have been improved, with weather tracking facilities in Subic, Tagaytay, Mactan, Mindanao, Pampanga.”

Definitely, the use of technology can be applied to forecast or monitor incoming typhoon signals, and the development of mapping systems in calamity-prone areas in the country. If we study the latest technology and its applications, we can surely benefit from it. I’m glad the government is now improving weather tracking facilities in some parts of the country. I hope in the near future, all cities will be able to have more improved and hi-tech weather tracking devices. As we can see, the Philippines is near the location where most intertropical convergence zone is created. Roughly speaking, if there are trade winds borne out of these zones, and may build up as typhoons, some areas have higher possibility of being hit by storms. Additionally, as what most seismologists would say that the technology that may be able to detect incoming earthquakes is not yet fully developed but is now being continually studied by experts. If and then we will be given the chance to have the latest technology for early warning devices, the top on the list who will benefit are those who live in calamity-prone areas including the local government units and also the experts who will study the changes of weather in the country and its possible aftershocks.


“As the seeds of fundamental political reform are planted, let us address the highest exercise of democracy, voting! In 2001, I said we would finance fully automated elections. We got it, thanks to Congress.”

-Finally, we will now have the chance of using technology to a mission-critical situation like elections. Not only we will use the benefits brought by its applications but it will also bridge the gap from those in the rural to urban areas. This would make a big step towards digital advancement. I am glad that it would finally take effect this coming 2010 elections (hopefully, for the first time in Philippine history). I just hope that the automation of the elections will not bring much fraud as what happens during our previous ones. (You can read more of my thoughts about election automation in http://charmainespeaksup.blogspot.com/2009/07/thoughts-about-automated-elections.html. Feel free to comment on it. Thanks anyway for the dudes who dropped their reactions to my post..)


For a country to be successful, it needs not only the good governance of the administration, but every cooperation and concern of its people.