Brian Poe-Llamanzares represents the Philippines at Asia Pacific Ministerial Forum

Dr. Brian Poe-Llamanzares

Dr. Brian Poe-Llamanzares was invited to speak at the Asia Pacific Ministerial Forum alongside representatives from the Department of Budget Management Undersecretary Maria Francesca del Rosario and Department of Information and Communications Technology Assistant Secretary Maria Teresa Camba. Together, they represented the Legislative and Executive branch efforts of the Philippines to address the digital divide.

Mr. Poe-Llamanzares explains that addressing the digital divide requires a whole-of-government approach. “When we talk about expanding the digital economy of the Philippines, we need the Executive and Legislative branches working hand-in-hand with internet service providers in order to make quality internet access available to all.”

He also mentioned how Senator Grace Poe is doing her part as Chair of the Senate Committee on Public Services. He gave three clear examples:

  1. The passage of the amendments to the Public Service Act (11659) in March 2022, allowing up to 100% foreign ownership of public services, including telecommunications, aims to foster competition, improve service quality, and support digital transformation projects in the country.
  2. The filing of the “Better Internet Act,” which requires all public telecommunications entities and internet service providers to expand service coverage in unserved and underserved areas. Further, the bill provides a minimum standard for internet connection speed.
  3. The filing of the “Open Access in Internet Act”, which shall promote the construction and development of reliable, affordable, secure, open and accessible Internet networks by providing for an expedited administrative process for the qualification and registration of Internet network and service providers. Unless they will operate an international cable landing station, ISPs shall not be required to secure a legislative franchise, Provisional Authority, or a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity or CPCN from the NTC in order to build, install, operate, and render Internet network and Internet access services.

Mr. Poe-Llamanzares also highlighted the National Fiber Backbone (NFB) project, explaining that it is crucial for economic transformation, and aims to bring high-speed internet access to 14 provinces, two National Government Data Centers, and four BCDA ecozones. The NFB Program covers 28,000 kilometers of fiber that will connect the Islands of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Dr. Brian Poe-Llamanzares serves as Chief-of-Staff of Senator Grace Poe and has previously written his PhD dissertation on the National Broadband Plan and submitted his findings to DICT Secretary Ivan Uy back in 2022. He has a PhD in Public Administration.

Present at the ministerial meeting were Dr. Piti Srisangnam, Executive Director, ASEAN Foundation; Simon Lin, President of Huawei Asia-Pacific Region; General (Ret.) Dr. Moeldoko, Chief-of-Staff of the President of the Republic of Indonesia; Professor Wisit Wisitsora-at, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, Thailand; H.E. Keo Sothie, Secretary of State, Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, Kingdom of Cambodia; Dr. Dave Akbarshah Fikarno, M.E., Member of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia; Md Ataur Rahman Khan, Additional Secretary, Information and Communication Technology Division, Bangladesh; and Sivaram Superamanian, Assistant Director of Digital Economy Division, the ASEAN Secretariat.

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