The ICT sector: Important for the Visayas

We strongly believe that a number of legislations, regulatory decisions and commitments to incentives are the key to securing further investments in the Philippines’ still booming information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPM-KPM – creative sector) industry.

      Its major beneficiary would be the country’s IT-BPM-KPM industry, the main driver of growth in the services industry, and inclusive growth, as these numbers clearly demonstrate: revenues of US$21.3 billion in 2015 and employment of some 1.3 million Filipinos.

What  is  needed?

1. A Department of Information and Communication Technology;

2. The implementation of the Data Privacy Act;

3. The implementation of Cyber Security;

4. Faster Internet / broadband at lower costs, and

5. The continuation of fiscal incentives to priority industries, including the IT/BPM/KPM and creative industries.

Given the fact that Iloilo, Cebu, Bacolod, Tagbilaran and other cities in the Visayas are becoming destinations for investors in this sector, it is essential that the issues mentioned above are addressed by the national and local governments and that voters in the Visayas are getting the message across to their representatives in government and in Congress.

The Data Privacy Act of 2012 or Republic Act No. 10173 that became law on September 8, 2012 is the Philippines’ first data privacy law.The law protects individual personal information in information and communications systems in the government and private sector.

It mandates the creation of a National Privacy Commission (NPC) to administer and implement the provisions of law, and to monitor and ensure compliance with international standards for data protection.

After endless reminders sent to the Office of the President to finally appoint the commissioners for the National Privacy Commission, it is finally happening; the commissioners have started drafting the vital Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) needed for the law’s implementation.The IRR isneeded to provide the clear guidelines on dealing with data breaches; establishing data breach policies and response protocols and crafting safety standards, among others. Without the IRR the law remains a piece of paper and it has remained in this sad state since September 8, 2012.

The establishment of the Department of ICT remains a necessity and we congratulate the 16th Congress for its efforts to finalize legislation regarding the establishment of this important department.It is trusted that Congress will select the best time for submitting this legislation to the Office of the President, trusting that the President will not veto it.

Let me state that the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) is deeply involved in the development of trade and investment in the Philippines, supports closer cooperation between companies in Europe and the Philippines. We are involved in many advocacies as you can see when you visit www.eccp.com. Comments are welcome: please channel them to [email protected] or Rosemel Calderon who is running ECCP’s Cebu operations [email protected].