DOTC telecoms units back to CICT again

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has completed the transfer of all its communications divisions to the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), following a directive by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Executive Order 780 has ordered the transfer of the Telecommunications Office (Telof) and the Telecommunications Policy and Planning Office back to the CICT.

DOTC Assistant Secretary Lorenzo Formoso III, who heads Telof, will assume a position along with incumbent CICT Commissioners Timoteo Diaz de Rivera, Monchito Ibrahim and Consuelo Perez.

The transfer followed the initial transfer of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to the CICT last January 7.

Incidentally, both the NTC and Telof were transferred from the DOTC to the CICT when it was created through EO 269. The transfer was repealed by EO 603 in 2007 which put the NTC and TELOF back to the control of DOTC.

The latest EO effectively repeals EO 603.

In a telephone interview, Diaz de Rivera said they would still map out the integration of Telof into the organizational structure of the CICT, which would begin in the coming days.

One of the issues in this integration is the transfer of over 4,000 Telof employees under the control of the CICT.

CICT has been involved in the rationalization of Telof operations before it was transferred back to the DoTC.

Diaz de Rivera said the CICT is hoping for the quick passage of a bill creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), which has been in the works for several years.

Diaz de Rivera said the proposal has passed at the House of Representatives while the Senate version is on its final reading.

“The creation of the DICT is more permanent and from there we can move on to pursuing IT projects for the government,” Diaz de Rivera said.

The creation of the DICT was proposed when the CICT was created in 2004. By Alexander Villafania - INQUIRER.net