RJ Jacinto replaces Rio at DICT

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed his economic adviser Ramon "RJ" Jacinto as undersecretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, replacing military communications veteran Eliseo Rio Jr.

Malacañang on Tuesday released a copy of its letter to the DICT informing the department about Jacinto's appointment. The letter was signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on May 22.

Jacinto previously held the position of Presidential Adviser on Economic Affairs and Information Technology Communications prior to his appointment at the DICT. He is well-known for founding DZRJ radio station and for his music career.

The RJ Group of Companies includes steel roofing company Jacinto Color Steel. In 2017, Jacinto said the government is looking at reviving the National Steel Corp. in Iligan City, a company that his family founded and used to own.

As one of Duterte's advisers, Jacinto previously clashed with his predecessor Rio over the DICT's plan to implement a common tower policy. Allowing common towers means more than one telco can use a single tower, thereby increasing the number of subscribers being served by each tower.

But Jacinto had wanted the number of common tower providers limited to two in the first four years of the policy's implementation, a proposal that Rio and the telco industry as a whole opposed for being  “anti-competitive" and "violative of several laws."

Facing backlash, Jacinto later dropped his initial proposal.

The Palace last week announced that Duterte accepted the resignation of Rio, who is known for facilitating the entry of the third telco player in the country.