FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC
OF THE PHILIPPINES
First Regular Session
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Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago
EXPLANATORY NOTE
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) cites the importance of linking the
indigenous sector with the information highway. Further, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative
Ms. Ricarda Rieger states that "providing the indigenous sector with access to information and
communication teclmology will give them more chances to empower ihemselves and will
eventually strengthen indigenous people's governance initiatives."
A report of the G-8's Digital Opportunity Task Force concludes that information and
communication technology or ICT, when wisely applied, offers enormous opportunities to
narrow social and economIc inequalities and support sustainable local wealth creation. The
inequality in the access to ICT is referred to as the "digital divide" defined by the Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Development as the gap that exists in the opportunities to access
advanced information and communication technologies between geographic areas or by
individuals at different socio-economic levels.
The bill seeks to provide Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICC/IP)
access to ICT. It also seeks to direct the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, in
coordination with the National Telecommunications Commission and the National Computer
Center under the Department of Science and Technology, to formulate plans and programs on
ICT for ICC/IP.
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I This bill was originally filed during the 14th Congress, 1st Regular Session