Republic of the Philippines
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND
ELECTRONIC COMMERCE PROMOTION COUNCIL
c/o The Office of the Secretary
Department of Trade and Industry
BOI Building, 385 Sen. Gil J. Puyat Avenue
Makati City

The approval and adoption by the President of the Government Information Systems Plan (GISP) to guide our computerization efforts in government over the next four to five years comes at a most opportune time. Its approval, pursuant to the President’s Executive Order No. 265, was in fact made after the President issued Executive Order No. 264, which establishes the Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Council (ITECC), through the merger of two existing councils, the National Information Technology Council (NITC) and the Electronic Commerce Promotion Council (ECPC).

The creation of ITECC unifies under a single body all government and private sector efforts toward the realization of a common goal: of making the Philippines the "E-Services Hub of Asia". We are closer to realizing this goal with the passage of Republic Act No. 8792, otherwise known as the Electronic Commerce Act, and the approval of its implementing rules and regulations (IRR).

Further, the President has directed, in pursuance of Section 27 of the E-Commerce Act, and Section 37 of its IRR, that all government departments, bureaus, and offices, as well as all government-owned and controlled corporations, should be Internet enabled within a reasonable time frame, but not to exceed two years.

All these clearly converge to make the government take a leading role in the use and application of information and communications technology and electronic commerce in the country. The GISP is therefore the needed impetus as well as the roadmap for the ITECC to steer and guide the computerization of key government operations and processes, and to make its services more widely and readily accessible to the people..

With the full support of the President, the members of ITECC, and all the other departments and agencies, the local governments and other instrumentalities of government, and the private sector, as partners, I am sure we will not fail.

MANUEL A. ROXAS II
Secretary
Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Council