Puno calls on government to provide incentive packages for IT education

Former Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ricardo "Dong" Puno Jr. has called on the government to push through with a plan to provide incentive packages to information technology (IT) education centers and Internet cafes in order to sharpen the country’s competitiveness rating in the new global economy.

The leading Puwersa ng Masa-Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (PnM) senatorial candidate said providing incentives that would help IT schools upgrade their standards and Internet cafés to flourish, especially in small barangays, will sharpen the skills of Filipino workers in computer technology and best prepare the country for the emerging Knowledge Society.

Puno said this move would also encourage more investors here and abroad to establish IT schools and Internet kiosks, especially in the countryside.

Puno is one of several opposition candidates who landed in the Magic 13 of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey of Metro Manila voters’ choices for senator.

He said granting incentives to investors in IT schools and Internet cafes has become imperative in the wake of reports that the Philippines’ global competitiveness rating last year dipped from 31st place in 1999 to 37th place.

The Switzerland-based International Institute of Management and Development ranked the Philippines 40th among 49 nations in competitiveness in a worldwide poll of some 3,200 business leaders.

To make it to the competitiveness list, a country must have a viable environment for investments and must be able to attract highly educated workers.

Puno said focusing on IT skills development will enable the country to gain a foothold in the increasingly competitive global economy, where knowledge, instead of land or capital, is now considered as nation’s chief wealth.