DICT CHIEF RUES DIP IN STARTUP ECOSYSTEM RANK

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

ALTHOUGH the Philippines has made huge milestones in developing its startup ecosystem, the country has to exert more efforts to bring it back to its lofty ranking in Southeast Asia, the head of the Department of Information Communications and Technology (DICT) has said.

DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said the country’s ranking dropped to 59th this year from 57th in 2022. It is now behind Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysian, Thailand and Vietnam in terms of the development of startup ecosystem.

“ The decline in our ranking is a sovereign reminder for us that while we have made significant strides nurturing our startup ecosystem, there is a lot more to be done,” Uy said in his opening remarks during the comeback announcement of Geeks on a Beach (GOAB) in Pasig City.

GOAB is a globally-recognized in- ternational startup event organized on scenic Philippine beaches that aims to inspire relevant discussions on innovations and network-building. Moreover, the event serves as an avenue to discuss relevant key programs of the DICT for the Philippine Startup Ecosystem.

U y said the GOAB conference scheduled on November 23 and 24 this year in Panglao Beach, Bohol, will feature the Philippine Startup Challenge competition for high school and college students. He said the contest aims to

DOF assures defense execs of role in MUP oversight panel

THE Department of Finance (DOF) assured security and defense officials and officers that they would have representation in the oversight committee of the proposed military and uniformed personnel (MUP) reformed pension system.

T he DOF revealed that one of the new features of the proposed reforms to the MUP pension would be the inclusion of military and uniformed services representatives in the fund’s oversight committee.

T he administration’s economic team held consultations with the Philippine Navy last week to discuss the proposed reforms to the MUP pension.

“As an additional feature to better manage the pension fund, representatives from the military and uniformed services will also be included in the oversight committee,” it said.

develop ICT products that would address societal problems.

H e stressed, along with the GOAB meeting, the competition is an aggressive campaign to enable the country to bounce back and become one of the leading destinations in Southeast Asia.

“Aside from the GOAB, the DICT will be more aggressive and invigorate the startup ecosystem which highlights the innovation, creativity and brilliance of the Filipinos,” Uy stressed.

See “DICT” A2

D eputy Treasurer Erwin D. Sta Ana assured officers from the Philippine Navy that there will be no co-mingling of funds among MUP and other funds being managed by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

“Ang pinag-usapan ng economic team ay dapat po may sariling accounting ang MUP [Per the economic team’s discussion, MUP should have its own accounting system]. That there will be an accounting standard that will be employed just to make sure that there is proper recording of all these funds,” Sta. Ana said.

( What the economic team discussed is that there should be an individual accounting per MUP.)

See “DOF,” A2