A Senate hearing on poor internet connection was suspended by Senate Public Services committee chair Grace Poe due to the same problem the hearing sought to address: poor internet connection. The online video conference on the status of the country’s internet service was interrupted by numerous technical glitches.
During the online hearing, Poe had to repeat herself several times as the attendees were frequently disconnecting or experiencing audio-visual buffering. She also had to use her personal iPad as the government’s equipment was not connecting to the video conferencing application.
“I don’t want to prolong our suffering anymore straining ourselves trying to understand each other with this horrible connection that we have,” Poe told the panel before suspending the hearing.
Also present during the hearing were representatives from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the various telecommunications companies providing internet connection in the country. Senator Nancy Binay, also present, agreed that the technical issues were bothersome. “Kung anuman ang mbps natin, apparently it’s not good enough because we’re having problems with our connection,” Binay said.
Poe admitted that the internet connection during their hearing has been the worst she experienced so far and is only proof of why the topic of the hearing was necessary. “This is the worst, actually […] Comedy of errors na talaga natin ito eh. Lumalabas ang sintomas ng talagang sakit na dapat nating gamutin,” she said.
Poe said that she will be including this occurrence on how the Senate itself is experiencing poor internet connection in the next committee report.
Only last week, the NTC also failed to connect to an online hearing about the country’s transition to online learning amid the pandemic.
Header photo screengrabbed from Senate of the Philippines Committee Hearing on Public Services
Get more stories like this by subscribing to our weekly newsletter here.
Read more:
‘See you online, class’: Learning continues for Filipino pupils on alternative platforms
No need to go outside. Here are government services you can sign up for online
Are Filipino students ready for online learning? This ADMU policy brief may clear things up