We respectfully and humbly appeal for the reinstatement of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) which was dissolved by virtue of Executive Order No. 47 dated June 23, 2011.
We are local ICT stakeholders bound by our commitment to steer Bacolod City and Negros Occidental towards a common direction for the benefit of all. Aptly named, we belong to BNEFIT, which stands for Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology (BNEFIT), a non-stock non-profit organization approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2008, with the purpose pursuing ICT- readiness and competitiveness and to further push and sustain the gains of Bacolod City and Negros Occidental as part of the Philippine Cyber Corridor.
By coming together from various sectors such as the academe, the business and private sector, and the local government units, we accepted the challenge and the constant encouragement posed by the CICT as our guide and mentor as the Philippines targets to capture ten percent of the world's outsourcing market equivalent to 13 billion USD revenues and one million employment by 2010 through public-private sector initiatives under the Philippine Roadmap 2010, a comprehensive study done in 2004 of the Philippine outsourcing industry which details the aspirations of the Philippine BPO industry and the initiatives needed in order to achieve these goals.
Since Bacolod City ventured on what it calls the Bacolod City for Information Technology Investment Program in 2005, we have already supported the advocacy and witnessed the dedication of CICT in assisting cities like us in determining our strengths and weaknesses based on a scorecard developed by said office to guide local governments in their quest for ICT-BPO investments.
With the aim of achieving 10,000 jobs by 2010, BNEFIT from 2008 moved with support and assistance of CICT to undertake various projects, including the involvement of BNEFIT as amoung the founders of the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines, a national network of all ICT councils with the common vision to serve as the recognized, premier, and unifying advocate for countrywide ICT industry development, with the goals to promote foreign and local investments and balanced development, share information and best practices, and transform the Philippines into a customer-oriented and competitive provider for global services.
With our goal realized for Bacolod and Negros Occidental - with almost 10,000 direct jobs and 30,000 indirect jobs created by 2011 translating to more than P100 Million in terms of monthly salary, almost $10 Million worth of foreign investments, we thank the CICT as we continue our efforts to sustain our gains.
We join all the ICT stakeholders in the country today for their call for a Department for Information and Communications Technology (CICT) that will have the singular mandate of utilizing ICT as a tool for nation-building. As we await its creation, we believe in the wisdom of reinstating the CICT as the cabinet-level agency that serves as most visible, efficient and effective government ICT champion that has served an enabler and catalyst of all the ICT stakeholders.
We hereby declare July 22, 2011 as day of mourning for the CICT, and will conduct a short ceremony to voice out appeal for the restoration of CICT as one community.
Signed this 14th of July 2011 in the City of Bacolod,Philippines.
Councilor Al Victor Espino
Atty. Jocelle Batapa-Sigue
Raymund Trespicio
Carnit Cordova
Shiegfred Tan
Engr. Julie Gretchen Dizon
Loida Acha
Andrew Regalado
Marose Sellado
Engr. Engiemar Tupas
Dr. Edmund Calaor
Dr. Johanna Rabago-Bayoneta
Wilbur Gadicho
Phillippe Barthelemy
Raymund Nones
Joelimar Bringuelo
Reymund Sabay
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