BY JOSE PAOLO S. DELA CRUZ
After spending the last few years as committee chair of “Build, Build, Build,” Anna Mae Lamentillo is back, not just as a newly promoted undersecretary at the Department of Information and Communications Technology, but with the second edition of her book, Night Owl.
On top of chronicling the success of the Duterte Administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program, Night Owl‘s second edition includes a new chapter enumerating the present administration’s “Build Better More” thrust.
Lamentillo, who is now Undersecretary — and previously Assistant Secretary — of the DICT, added the chapter to segue into the digital infrastructure program of the current administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “From ‘Build, Build, Build’ to ‘Build Better More,’ we are highlighting the continuity of the government’s programs for improving lives through infrastructure, including digital infrastructure,” she says.
In a previous statement, Lamentillo also noted that “Much more needs to be done to accelerate digital connectivity and improve the government’s digitalization efforts. As Undersecretary of DICT, I hope to provide more support to Secretary Ivan John Uy in fulfilling the Department’s mandate. Improving our digital infrastructure and providing internet connectivity to all our communities mean opening more opportunities for Filipinos to have a better life.”
The undersecretary, who is responsible for coordinating with the Senate and the House of Representatives to further the DICT’s legislative agenda, also explained in her book how the current government wants to ensure universal connectivity so that no citizen is left behind. Thus, it is the top agenda of the DICT, under the leadership of Secretary Uy, to deploy digital connectivity across the country through programs, such as the National Broadband Program and the Free Wi-Fi for All, as well as harnessing new technologies, including satellite connectivity, to reach even Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDAs).
According to Night Owl, the Duterte Administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program, especially under the leadership of then-Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark A. Villar, yielded 29,264 kilometers of roads; 5,950 bridges; 11,340 flood mitigation structures; 222 evacuation centers; 150,149 classrooms; 214 airport projects; and 451 seaport projects built over a period of five years.
“The roads and bridges we have accomplished under the Duterte Administration provided better access to essential services and opportunities for livelihood, enhanced traffic mobility, and improved the economy, even allowing it to survive the pandemic. Now, the strengthened digitalization efforts of the Marcos Administration will provide Filipinos not only opportunities to learn new technologies but also access to online learning, telemedicine, online banking, and other digital services,” she explains.
