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DTI Secretary is the New E-Commerce Czar

June 23, 2005

DigitalFilipino reports that DTI Secretary Juan Santos has announced a renewed interest in taking an active role in the e-Commerce policy space.   This raises two (2) interesting legal issues that will no doubt be settled politically. 

E.O. 269 creating the Commission on ICT seems to relegate the DTI’s role in  ICT to trade promotion (see Sec. 4[o], EO 269).  This, of course, is inconsistent with the provisions of R.A. 8792 (the ECommerce Act) which empowers the DTI to implement the law.  Also, the Implementing Rules of R.A. 8792 further vested the DTI with rulemaking powers in the area of electronic commerce (see Sec. 56, ECA IRR).

In the area of e-government, the CICT-creating E.O. also seems to vest wide powers to the agency including oversight functions for all e-government projects and the management of the e-government fund (see Secs. 4[d] & 4[e], EO 269).  However, this seems to ignore the E-Commerce Act’s IRR which requires all agencies complying with the law’s e-government provision to coordinate with the DTI (see Sec. 43[a], ECA IRR) which implies a central role for DTI in e-government projects.

So, will DTI Secretary Santos’ announcement bring these issues to the fore?  Who knows?  There seems to be turf issue that needs to be addressed.  Anyway, it’s a small pond and it’s probably easier for CICT to relinquish authority given the fact that the DTI’s mandate comes from Congress itself.  Or maybe CICT’s specialized knowledge in this space may weigh in their favor.

Let’s wait and see.

Posted by disini at 6:21 pm | permalink

Previous Comments

Hi JJ. Thank you for this one. It is sad when people ignore the rule of law in the creation of executive orders and policy. At the end of the day, it is the interest of the country and its people that matters.

Posted by Janette Toral at June 26, 2005, 5:35 pm

No conflict here. In fact, I just received an invitation for 2 weeks all-expense paid training on E-Commerce in Tehran. I promptly passed it on to Sec. Santos to nominate DTI personnel that might benefit from this training.

A reading of EO 269 also shows no conflict. http://www.ops.gov.ph/records/eo_no269…

The Section O you refer to states that CICT shall "Assist the Department of Trade and Industry in carrying out its functions related to the promotion of trade and investment opportunities in ICT Services". CICT plays an assisting role, so where is the conflict there?

Sections D and E refer to government systems and e-government. E-Commerce encompasses much more than government transactions. Again, I see no conflict. DTI supervises commercial transactions between private sector entities.

Nothing for you to "wait and see". There's no conflict here. Never was.

My grandfather Placido L. Mapa was Secretary of Commerce in the late '50s, the forerunner of DTI. My uncle Roberto V. Ongpin was the first Minister of Trade and Industry. I'm quite familiar with the scope of DTI, thank you.

Unless we have changed the definition of commerce, the simple mode of transacting commerce electronically does not take it out of the jurisdiction of DTI.

What will you conjure up next? Perhaps you might find humorous the suggestion that all e-Learning be taken away from the Department of Education and placed under CICT simply because there is an "E" attached? Or maybe that legislation is now a CICT function because one of its agencies has opened up an e-Rulemaking website? Or what about taking all "e-farms" away from the supervision of DA? Ha ha ha.

Sorry I ran out of jokes. Your turn.

Posted by Dondi Mapa at July 5, 2005, 4:18 pm

I don't agree. Working relationships are predicated on personalities. When the personalities change, so will the working relationships.

For me, the important thing is that the DICT Bill and the E-Commerce Act are in congruity. Perhaps your legal prowess can help ferret out any potential conflicts in that arena!

Posted by Dondi Mapa at July 6, 2005, 11:33 am

Shucks! My wish is that next time, we'll have an e-commerce czar whose reign is longer than one month…

Posted by Dondi Mapa at July 11, 2005, 8:19 pm

[7] The CICT Chairman submitted his courtesy resignation as did all other Cabinet members.

Some resignations have been accepted, others have been rejected. For those whose resignation has not been acted upon, they are in "holdover" capacity to ensure the contining operation of the executive branch of government. The holdover status is deemed ended when either: the resignation is rejected or, a replacement is named/appointed.

Posted by Dondi Mapa at July 13, 2005, 10:09 am

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