Honasan accepts Duterte's offer to head DICT
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Gregorio Honasan on Friday announced that he has accepted the offer of President Rodrigo Duterte to head the Department of Information and Communications Technology.
"For a better Philippines, a better government, for the Filipino people, and for a better future for our most precious children, I have decided to accept the offer of the President to help lead the DICT," Honasan said in a statement.
Honasan's second term in the Senate will end in 2019. He will replace acting Information Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr.
Rio, on the other hand, said he hopes he would be given a few more weeks to finalize the bidding process of the country's third major telecommunications player.
"I would not understand why I have to be changed in midstream of a very important activity that would finally bring a significant improvement in telecommunication industry," Rio said.
The outgoing DICT chief added that he does not see urgency in Honasan taking over until he finishes his task on the third telco player.
On a Twitter post following the announcement, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he will miss Honasan in the Senate now that he will be transferring to the DICT.
Senator @gringo_honasan heads to the DICT.
— Senate of the Philippines (@senatePH) November 8, 2018
"For a better Philippines, a better government, for the Filipino people, and for a better future for our most precious children, I have decided to accept the offer of the President to help lead the DICT."
Congratulations and Godspeed to our colleague Now Sec. @gringo_honasan !! https://t.co/5RwZ6JNySY
— Sonny Angara (@sonnyangara) November 9, 2018
With his impending transfer to the DICT, I will miss Sen Gringo in the Senate for many reasons including being my perennial quorum buddy in all my committee hearings and vise versa. By now, I assume that he has “ditched” and replaced his Jurassic cell phone unit.
— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) November 9, 2018
Lacson described Honasan as his "perennial quorum buddy in all my committee hearings and vise versa."
"By now, I assume that he has 'ditched' and replaced his Jurassic cell phone unit," Lacson said.
Senators have been teasing Honasan for his "Jurassic" cellphone unit that he still uses at the age of smartphones.
Senate President Tito Sotto earlier revealed that Honasan still keeps his Nokia 3210, a text and call only cell phone.
Sotto also said that Honasan would be an asset to the DICT due to his expertise on national security.
"The thing is he will be in the executive department. From there, things may turn to different situations in the future. I think he will be an asset to the DICT because what we see is the communications and technology part but national security is a big factor," Sotto said in a forum earlier this week.
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