Quezon City: A total of 17 schools located in remote areas of the Philippines have been connected to the internet using the satellite internet service Starlink through the Department of Information and Communications Technology's (DICT) School Connectivity Drive. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. led the program's launch through a livestream with public school representatives in these 17 remote schools at the Flora Ylagan High School in Quezon City on Thursday.

According to Philippines News Agency, DICT Secretary Henry Aguda emphasized that the program is part of the 'Digital Bayanihan' initiative in the education sector, carried out in cooperation with the Department of Education (DepEd) in line with President Marcos' directive to ensure connectivity for Filipinos across the nation. Aguda stated, "Hindi lang ito ceremonial. Ito ay tunay na serbisyo na ngayon ay nararamdaman na sa mga pinakamalayong dako ng bansa," highlighting the genuine impact of the initiative in providing internet access to the country's farthest reaches.

The 17 schools connected via Starlink include Tangalan National High School in Apayao (Cordillera Administrative Region), Paddagan Elementary School in Ilocos Norte (Ilocos Region), Chanarian Elementary School in Batanes (Cagayan Valley), Tibagan Elementary School in Bulacan (Central Luzon), and several others distributed across various regions, including Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and more.

In addition to the installation of Starlink in select schools, the DICT has successfully rolled out 8,849 free WiFi sites in 6,183 geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas. The department has also laid 3,026 kilometers of National Fiber Backbone infrastructure, which can deliver high-speed internet for the government across 20 provinces and to over 1,000 agencies.