MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang should fast-track the issuance of an order to spell out the guidelines governing the establishment of telecommunication towers and other internet infrastructure in order to sustain the momentum of the country’s digital transformation, an advocacy group said.
“Two joint memorandum circulars have enabled us to achieve respectable progress in the past two years. But these JMCs will expire in July 2023, and we cannot afford to lose momentum in our pursuit of greater connectivity and digital transformation,” said Orlando Oxales, co-convenor of CitizenWatch Philippines.
“In just a span of 18 months, the results of the JMCs became evident. They were able to significantly improve the processing time to secure permits: for telco towers from eight months to 16 days, and for other internet infrastructure from 2.5 years to just 2.5 months.”
The JMCs were able to cut down the number of permits from 13 to eight, and the number of other documentary requirements from 86 to 35, Oxales said.
“Telco coverage substantially improved. A total of 7,000 towers were erected in just a span of 18 months, bringing the total number to 29,700 from 22,700,” he said.
He said with the JMCs in place, the Philippines was able to climb from 71st place globally in October 2021 to 45th in terms of fixed broadband speed in November 2022. Ranking in terms of mobile internet speed also improved from 93rd in October 2021 to 80th in November 2022.
“The direct results of the JMCs are undisputable,” Oxales said. “This shows we only needed to do things more efficiently in order to see a drastic improvement.”
The JMCs were an offshoot of the directives from former president Rodrigo Duterte to improve telco services.
The Private Sector Advisory Council and the Anti-Red Tape Authority, however, warned that compliance to the two JMCs might stop and reversed if these are not made into a permanent executive policy.
“We are in complete agreement with the PSAC and ARTA on this one,” said Oxales.
“It is not difficult to imagine how much better we would have performed if all LGUs and agencies concerned complied with the JMCs. Only an executive order will have the effect of a law which in turn will ensure sustained compliance and enforcement of the guidelines,” he added.
“President Marcos himself has acknowledged the need for such a transformation, and I believe fast action on this executive order will be a strong message to all parties involved to further expedite the building of the country’s digital infrastructure,” Oxales said.