Philippines passes DICT Bill

The Philippines’ House Committee on Appropriations has approved a new bill to create the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), local newspaper The Inquirer reports. The paper says the new bill passed without ‘much opposition’ and no major issues were raised during last week’s hearing. The establishment of the DICT has been four years in the offing and an interim body, the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), has been working under the auspices of the Office of the President to smooth the bill’s passage.