By Francis Earl Cueto
INFORMATION and Communications Secretary Ivan Uy on Tuesday said the Philippines was reelected to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and will serve from 2023 to 2026.
The election was held in Bucharest, Romania on Oct. 3, 2022.
“This new mandate to sit among 48 member states out of 193 in the International Telecommunications Union reinforces our commitment to fully embrace digital transformation as a major strategy for national development,” Uy said.
He said that the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is looking forward to working with all of the stakeholders both in the public and private sectors to attain our common aspirations of a digitally empowered Philippines.
“As a country, we are very eager to take an active part in building a better digital future for all as our commitment under the Bucharest Declaration,” he said.
The ITU Council for 2023 to 2026 will allow DICT to lead the Philippines’ involvement in discussions and decisions that will significantly shape the future of the world.
“We will need the full support and collaboration of all departments of government and Congress to achieve our goals. Thank you to everyone who helped us achieve this milestone,” he said.
The ITU is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. Since its first election, the Philippines became a consistent member of the ITU Council for Asia and Australasia (Region E) for four terms and was met with high regard as it supported key initiatives and engagements of the administration with the union.
In its most recent term (2019-2022), the Philippines greatly benefitted from ITU’s expert assistance in its effort on the selection of the new major player in the public telecommunications market.
