Under the proposed Public School Database Act, the DepEd is mandated to create a database that contains learner information, while the bill proposing the establishment of the Philippine Death Check (PDC) Register aims to set up a centralized electronic database containing mortality data.
Despite the approval of the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act, only 945 public basic education schools or about two percent of public schools nationwide have free public Wi-Fi as of January 29, 2022. Meanwhile, there are at least only 10 reputable higher education institutions offering distance education despite the passage of the Open Distance Learning Act.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said that online scammers usually use or buy SIM cards in the black market that are registered with e-wallets under people who sell or lend their identities.
Under Senate Bill No. 477 or the Philippine Online Library Act, the Department of Education (DepEd) is mandated to create digitized copies of all textbooks and reference books it deems necessary for the public education of our elementary and secondary learners.
The enrolled copies of the bills on the registration of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards and the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act were transmitted to Malacañang last March 15 and 17, respectively, for the president’s signing.
Sen. Grace Poe has asked government agencies to see to it that their websites are up and running all the time, while Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian urged the BSP and local banks to suspend the collection of fees on online money transfers while Covid-19 cases peak.
Re-electionist senator Sherwin Gatchalian took note of a recent incident relayed in a newspaper column on how a housewife's credit card was charged P1.7 million after her SIM card was replaced by fraudsters to underhandedly carry out online credit card transactions.
E-commerce platforms such as Lazada, Shopee, and Facebook Marketplace can be held solidarily liable for selling illegal products like SMS blast machines under the proposed Internet Transactions Act, according to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the bill seeks to improve Internet access in the country by encouraging the entry of new satellite technologies to provide services to those either unserved or underserved areas.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros has called on the DICT to demand 3rd telco Dito Telecommunity to step up its services, after reports of consumer complaints about the telco's "poor services", while Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian is pushing for the registration of pre-paid SIM cards after a series of incidents involving scams were committed on food delivery riders.
