The Philippines successfully ended its re-election campaign as it secured a council seat for the next four years at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on Monday, Oct. 3, in Bucharest, Romania.
Ivan John Uy, secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), said the country’s re-elected status in the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies (ICT) supports its digital agenda globally with its neighboring nations.
“This new mandate to sit among 48 member states out of 193 in the ITU reinforces our commitment to fully embrace digital transformation as a major strategy for national development,” he said in a statement.
The DICT chief said the agency is looking forward to working with all its stakeholders both in the public and private sectors “to attain our common aspirations of a digitally empowered Philippines.”
“As a country, we are very eager to take an active part in building a better digital future for all as our commitment under the Bucharest Declaration,” Uy said.
“This new ITU Council for 2023 to 2026 will allow DICT to lead our country’s involvement in discussions and decisions that will significantly shape the future of the world,” he added.
Philippines is one of the 13 nations in Region E representing Asia and Australasia together with Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and United Arab Emirates to get elected to a council seat.
Uy also called on the full support and collaboration of all departments of government and the Congress to achieve the agency’s goals.
For her part, DICT undersecretary Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, deputy minister for the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2022, stressed the importance of digital transformation for both small and big countries.
“To us in government, it may be just work, but for others it may mean their lives, their food, their education, their health,” Batapa-Sigue said.
She said the country, represented by the DICT in the ITU, is committing to helping the world in the sharing of knowledge among member-states in terms of ICT.
“The Philippines is blessed to stand among nations and have a voice in the next four years. Let us show the world that DICT is a government agency of global standards. Let us use this seat, this voice to help build a better digital future,” she said.
