TELOF, other DOTC unit transferred back to CICT

MANILA, Philippines -- The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) has announced recently the transfer of the Telecommunications Office (TELOF) and all other operating units of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) back to its supervision.

In an official statement, CICT Secretary Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III said he was ecstatic about the transfer. “This recent transfer undoubtedly makes us better equipped to implement our initiatives, particularly in the areas of digital convergence and universal access.”

President  has issued Executive Order No. 780 to facilitate the transfer.

The announcement follows the recent move to transfer the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) also back to the CICT last month.

Roxas-Chua still believes it is important for the CICT to become a department. “While this recent transfer makes us whole again, we are still looking forward to the passage of Senate Bill No. 2546 creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology, so we will finally be established by law and have a greater sense of permanence,” he said.

The TELOF and the communications units of the DOTC were first transferred from the DOTC to the CICT when the CICT was created in 2004 by EO 269, but was subsequently transferred back to the DOTC in 2007 by EO 603. EO 708 effectively repeals EO 603.

In line with EO 269, the TELOF is expected to form the Information Infrastructure Group of the CICT that will focus on universal access and provision of ICT-related services in unserved and underserved areas.

The TELOF is currently headed by DOTC Assistant Secretary Lorenzo Formoso III, who will assume the position of CICT Commissioner alongside Commissioners Angelo Timoteo Diaz de Rivera, Monchito Ibrahim and Consuelo Perez.