Transcript of Sen. Bam's media interview on Free Internet in Public Places
(After the bicameral conference committee)

This should be made law at the soonest possible time. Mahalaga po ang internet sa buhay ng mga Pilipino, whether it's trying to get a job, connecting with your loved ones, o kung estudyante ka na nagreresearch. Hopefully, ito yung simula ng mas maganda at mas mabilis na internet para sa ating bayan.

Admittedly this will take a few more years bago talaga kumalat ito sa buong kapuluan, but because batas na po ito, every year kailangan itong pondohan at kailangan dumami ang mga public places na mayroong libreng internet access. Hopefully as the years go on, we'll be able to provide more access to our fellow Filipinos pagdating po sa internet.

Challenges during Bicam

Wala naman. Both versions were very similar. Magkalapit na magkalapit po sila. Pero napagusapan din na ipagbabawal ang pornography especially child pornography dito sa programang ito. Napagusapan rin yung budget. Kung magkano yung kinakailangan para mapondohan yung programang ito. And I think lahat naman, more or less, magkakalapit yung provision ng congress and the senate.

Ang mahalaga ngayon, pag napasa na ito, maiplement ng maayos and that's really the challenge now. Kasi currently, kahit may pondo yung gobyerno, ang infrastructure kulang talaga. So hopefully, yung isang provision dito na 7 days na lang ang kinakailangan para sa lahat ng permits ng ating mga telecommunications companies. Dahil batas na yan at talagang 7 days na yan para makakuha ng permit, wala na silang rason na hindi magtayo ng infrastructure sa ating bansa. We can hold them accountable. Kasi for this program, talagang ginawa natin yung lahat para mapabilis yung pagbuo ng infrastructure sa ating bansa.

This is a current government program which we've institutionalized. Hindi lang Globe at Smart. May mga ibang providers din na sumasama, mga internet service providers. But in the future, my prediction in the next 3 to 5 years, may portion dyan, private sector yung magbubuo at may portion na gobyerno naman yung popondo. In the far flung areas, harder to reach areas, kailangan 'yung gobyerno na mismo mag-invest. So it will be both the public and the private sectors na magtutulungan para ma-implement ang batas na ito ng maayos.

Budget for Free Internet in Public Places

There's a budget every year kasi 2014 pa unang napagusapan yung programang ito. But I predict na kailangan pa 'tong dagdagan. Kasi we want to see more of these public places powered by the internet para magka -access ang ating kababayan.

Hindi rin masyadong kayang magbigay ng definite date yung DICT. But I think yung pinakamahalaga, yung areas na meron nang infrastructure, madaliin na within this year and next year. Then yung areas na kulang pa ng infrastructure, simulan na yung proseso ng pagbubuo nito - in the urbanized cities, in the main terminals, in the main government offices, in the city halls na malapit sa sentro. Kaya na yan eh! It can be done already. But we're talking about yung 3rd, 4th, 5th municipalities, yung mga tourist destinations na medyo malalayo. Yun kulang pa ng imprastraktura, and ang gusto natin, all of these areas, all of these public places, may access tayo sa internet. So yung areas na yun matatagalan pa. Pero at the soonest possible time, dapat yung mga lugar na more or less may infrastructure na, with this law, kailangan talagang bilisan ng DICT.