Sen. Grace Poe, the budget sponsor of the DICT, said instead of granting the agency a P300-million confidential fund, the amount of P280 million was put in a line item budget “so that it’s easier for us to be able to monitor it.”
The hacking incidents have pushed Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano to state that the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) urgently needs confidential funds to upgrade the government's protection from cyberattacks.
The eCongress website, an integrated digital legislative management system, will allow the two chambers of the legislature to strengthen coordination and make the inter-chamber processes much better and faster.
Senate Bill No. (SBN) 1846 or the proposed Internet Transactions Act. calls for the establishment of the "E-Commerce Bureau" under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) which shall have authority over activities conducted over the Internet.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, chair of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, has assured foreign chambers that the Senate is taking seriously their concern on the boosting of Internet connectivity in the country, saying the quality of digital infrastructure is the cornerstone to economic development and will consequently improve the general welfare of the Filipino people.
Sen. Grace Poe has refiled her bill seeking to require Internet service providers (ISPs) to widen their reach and establish a minimum and consistent Internet connection speed.
Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said during a hearing that he offered in 2018 to help the Bureau of Customs look for additional sources of funds to augment its budget for automation projections officials then seem to be not interested.
