CICT downgrade may cost PHL 800,000 jobs

The Philippines' business process outsourcing (BPO) industry lies in peril following Malacañang's decision to transfer stewardship of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) to the Science and Technology department, a Senator said on Monday. In a statement, Senate Committee on Science and Technology chair Edgardo Angara said CICT's demotion into a mere ICT Office (ICTO) under the DOST will "dramatically reduce attention" and resources made available to the IT-BPO industry. "ICT is a sunshine industry with enormous potential for investment and job generation. It deserves no less than a cabinet portfolio," Angara stressed. On June 30, ironically the last day of what was dubbed as the National ICT Month, Malacañang made public Executive Order (EO) No. 47 transferring the CICT to the DOST. In an earlier interview, IT industry consultant Lito Averia noted that the EO has reduced "the CICT to a support function. Very little is said about market development and promotions." With the IT-BPO industry raising as much as $9 billion in revenues and generating more than 500,000 jobs for the country in 2010, Angara said relegating the ICT commission to a mere office is an "ironic move that sends the wrong signals" about how the country prioritizes ICT. 4 million jobs... In an email interview with GMA News Online, lawyer Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, chair of the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP), said that under the Philippine Digital Strategy (PDS), the CICT intended to generate 4 million jobs for the industry during President Benigno Aquino III’s term. The Business Processing Association of the Philippines, meanwhile, pegged in its forecast the employment figures of the industry at 1.3 million by the time Aquino steps down from office, or 800,000 more employees in the next five years. With the fate of the PDS now quite uncertain, industry groups are left to wonder what will happen to the IT-BPO opportunities. "Without CICT, it would have been difficult for cities [that] are not in the National Capital Region to prepare, market and sustain our growth in the [IT-BPO] sector," Sigue said. With the help of CICT, Sigue said six Philippine cities became part of the list of top 100 cities in the world for outsourcing in 2010. "Through the Next Wave City score-carding, CICT has assisted cities outside Metro Manila to benchmark their initiatives with industry standards," she said. Not as efficient Under the DOST, Sigue said CICT will "not be as efficient" as it had been in the past several years. "The DOST is ridden with bureaucracy. Now that ICT concerns [are] no longer a presidential concern but simply an office concern to be run by a mere executive director, things would be entirely different and slow," she claimed. Sigue added that the functions of the ICT Office under EO 47 are "very elementary" and that a myopic view of an ICT office assumes it to be a simple office that troubleshoots government websites and provides the technical needs of government. "The wordings of the functions under EO 47 presuppose that the ICT industry is just starting," she stressed. In an interview with reporter on Monday, DOST spokesperson Raymund Liboro said the department is capable of immediately implementing measures to develop the ICT industry in the country. "EO 47 signifies a shift to more strategic ICT policies... by tapping into DOST's direct links with the academe and the industry," Liboro said. Liboro likewise quelled fears by various groups in the industry that the transfer will eventually spell the death of the IT-BPO industry. "Hindi naman kukunin ang isang [industriya], na nakikitang nagboo-boost ng ekonomiya ng Pilipinas, para wasakin lang," he explained, adding that the interest of the industry will be the agency's primordial motivation in its decisions. Liboro, however, said that the recently launched PDS will have to undergo review by the agency. "It's all broad strokes for now. At this point, we really have to look at it, to vet it," he said. Nevertheless, the spirit of the PDS is something that the DOST will also advocate. "The vision of the PDS is something we will also push for," he said, adding that as long as they see no compelling reasons to discontinue ongoing CICT projects such projects will go on. The DOST added that it will focus on developing human resources for the IT-BPO industry "through education in order to produce globally competitive ICT manpower and promoting a climate conducive for further growth." In good hands Asked who is being eyed to head the ICTO, Liboro said: "That's for the secretary to determine. Whoever will be put there will be for the benefit of the entire industry." He added, however, that the local IT-BPO industry is in good hands. "The ICT industry has a new champion in Secretary Mario Montejo. He believes that Science and Technology is the foundation of ICT, and can solve the nation's problems" he said. Sought for comment regarding their opposition to the creation of a Department of ICT (DICT), Liboro said it is up to Congress to decide on the matter. Angara, however, believes that a DICT is crucial to leapfrogging neighboring nations. "The strongest economies in Southeast Asia all have a line department devoted to ICT. We are in the league of Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Timor-Leste in this regard. This is yet another area where we are being left behind by our peers," Angara said in a column published in the Manila Bulletin newspaper. NICP's Sigue, on the other hand, called on Malacañang not to sidestep Congress should it pass the DICT bill currently pending before the House and the Senate. "Let our duly elected representatives decide the fate of DICT," she said. "And we appeal to the President to respect the policy direction of Congress if it passes the DICT Bill." — VS, GMA News