Gov’t seeks refund from ‘terminated’ free Wi-Fi project

MANILA – The foreign contractor of the government’s free Wi-Fi program has until Friday to turn over the project to the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) officials and return the funds earmarked for it, Malacañang said on Thursday.

Due to delays in the implementation of the project, the DICT decided to terminate its agreement with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and asked for the return of the funds earmarked for the free Wi-Fi project, saying it is capable to finish the project on its own.

The UNDP is the implementer which hired an Australian firm, Speedcast, to import telecom equipment for the free Wi-Fi project.

“Nakipag-ugnayan po tayo kay USec. [Emmanuel Rey] Caintic ng DICT at ang nalaman po natin unang-una, yung contractor po has until tomorrow to respond to their demand letter. Ang demand po nila ay itigil ang proyekto dahil DICT na po ang gagawa ng proyekto at yung mga pera na naibayad na sa kanya na hindi naman niya naikabit by way of Wi-Fi spots ay dapat ibalik (We contacted Undersecretary Caintic of DICT and what we found out first, the contractor has until tomorrow to respond to their demand letter. Their demand is to stop the project because DICT will continue the project and the money that has been paid to the contractor to install Wi-Fi spots must be returned),” he said in a Palace press briefing.

Roque said the DICT is currently in the process of accounting how much the UNDP and Speedcast would return to the agency.

“Nasa proseso pa lang po sila ng accounting at sa ngayon po hindi po tayo makapagbibigay ng halaga pero in due course po, lalung-lalo na dahil tomorrow is the end of the three days na nasa kanilang demand letter, e mako-compute na po ng ating mga state accountants kung magkano ang dapat ibalik na pera ng foreign contractor na ‘yan (They are still in the process of accounting and right now we can’t give the amount but in due course, especially because tomorrow is the end of the three-day deadline in their demand letter, they will be able to compute how much money that should be returned by the contractor),” he added.

On Tuesday, Roque said kicking out the foreign contractor will have “no effect” on the government’s free Wi-Fi project.

“Wala pong epekto ‘yan. Baka siguro mapapabilis pa nga (That won’t have any effect. It might even hasten the rollout of the free Wi-Fi project),” Roque said.

Four years after the free Wi-Fi project was signed into law by Duterte, Roque said the DICT, UNDP, and Speedcast have put up some 10,000 free Wi-Fi sites nationwide as of April – as compared to the 120,000-target.

Last month, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) informed the DICT of its discovery of Speedcast undervaluing on the importation of telecom equipment and bribing Customs personnel to reduce duties and taxes of their cargo.

A Commission on Audit review showed irregularities in the project’s engagement with UNDP which was described as “not cost-effective on the part of the government.”

Instead of the DICT directly dealing with contractors through public bidding, COA said another cost layer is added in the process since “it will now be the UNDP who will do so at an additional 5 percent service fee.”