President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday approved the creation of a national broadband network to deliver fast internet service to far-flung areas.

The announcement was made by Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, who was present in an ongoing Cabinet meeting in Malacañang.

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“President Rody Duterte has approved the establishment of a National Government Portal and a National Broadband Plan during the 13th Cabinet Meeting in Malacañang today. After a presentation made by Dept. of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Rodolfo Salalima, Pres. Duterte emphasized the need for faster communications in the country,” Piñol said in a statement.

As part of a national broadband plan, the newly created DICT earlier proposed to Duterte a scaled-down national broadband network in areas unreached by large telecommunications providers, aside from wiring government agencies.

In a Senate hearing last year, Salima said installing a broadband plan from scratch would cost the government P77 billion to P199 billion. RAM/rga

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