Honasan nominated DICT chief

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has officially nominated Senator Gregorio B. Honasan II as Secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
Malacañang released on Thursday the nomination paper of Mr. Honasan as next DICT chief.
“Pursuant to the provisions of Section 16, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution and existing laws, you are hereby nominated Secretary, Department of Information and Communications Technology,” Mr. Honasan’s nomination paper read in part.
Signed on Nov. 20, the document also read: “By virtue hereof, and upon consent by the Commission on Appointments, you may qualify and enter upon the performance of the duties of the office, furnishing this Office and the Civil Service Commission with copies of your oath of office.”
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said in a press briefing that Mr. Duterte chose Mr. Honasan to head the DICT for his “integrity and competence.”
In a statement, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto said: “My unsolicited advice is for Senator Honasan to retain Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio as his Senior Undersecretary, and for the latter to continue serving the public in that capacity. For one to step up, there is no need for the other to step out. The nation will benefit from the combined skills of this good tandem. Two workhorses are better than one.”
He said it will be a waste of “talent” if Mr. Rio, given his “good credentials — double engineering degree holder, ECE (Electronics & Communication Engineering) board topnotcher, academic, and ex-general who has had 50 years experience in the field of telecommunications — will be let go.”
“He is good for one last tour of duty, at a crucial point in our nation’s life when important developments in the ICT sector are happening, including the authorization of a third telco-which must, like any public utility, be subjected to oversight and held to its promised deliverables,” Mr. Recto added.