Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan II on Monday, Sept. 20, expressed optimism that the Philippines' internet connectivity will further improve as the country is "slowly getting" to the top of global rankings.

"When we came in we were really at the bottom. In terms of internet speed, connectivity, wala pa po tayo sa taas (we are not yet at the top). But we are slowly getting there," Honasan said during the deliberation of the Senate finance subcommittee on the DICT's proposed 2022 budget.

The Philippines maintained its ranking at the Ookla Speedtest Global Index for August 2021, at 63rd place out of 180 countries.

Fixed broadband speed, however, slightly improved to 72.56 Mbps from the 71.17 Mbps average download speed recorded in July, and from the 66.55 Mbps recorded in June.

Meanwhile, the country went a rank lower to 73rd place out of 140 countries in terms of mobile internet speed. Average download speed was at 33.77 Mbps in August, which was a slight increase from July's 33.69 Mbps, and June's 32.84 Mbps.

But Honasan was quick to recognize that various areas of the country may still not experience the improvement, telling the Senate panel that the department takes full responsibility of it.

"Syempre sa six o'clock news, pag tinanong mo 'yong man on the street, sasabihin sayo ng work from home, 'Iyon nga po, nagbabayad ako pero walng signal' (Of course in the six o'clock news, when you ask the man on the street, they will say, 'Yes, we are paying for the connectivity but we still don't get signal') -- we accept full responsibility. We cannot cover the entire environment, operating environment 100 percent," he said.

"Especially if we ask a student who is forced to study from home...'Nagbabayad naman kami pero wala, walang signal (We are paying but there is no signal)'. We have no excuses, we take full responsibility," he added.

Still, he maintained that the DICT verified its accomplishment in improving the country's connectivity.

"Every single member of the DICT family validated these (accomplishments) by checking personally. So 'pag sinabi nating ganito ang improvement in connectivity, in internet speed, chineck po ito, vinalidate, kinonfirm on the ground (So when we say that we such an improvement in connectivity, in internet speed, these were checked, validated, and confirmed on the ground)," Honasan said.

In a presentation before the Senate finance subcommittee, DICT Undersecretary Emmanuel Caintic said the department has activated a total of 10,966 free Wi-FI sites in the country as part of the government's "Free Wi-Fi For All" Program.

Of this number, 9,165 are established in public plces; 1,801 are in state universities and colleges (SUCs) and TESDA.

Meanwhile, the DICT also established 2,927 free Wi-Fi sites in government hospitals and medical centers, rural health units, COVID-19 quarantine facilities and vaccination centers, Caintic said.