For the rest of us who are not lawyers and are dissatisfied with this administration, the question is very simple: Is this some kind of a sick joke that the Arroyo administration issued Estrada a defective pardon?

Less controversial and definitely less heralded is the approaching completion of the national government’s Local Government Unit Community e-Center (LGU CeC) project that involves the free installation of what amounts to an Internet café plus a one-year broadband Internet connection in 260 of the most far-flung municipalities of the country from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi with a few barangays thrown in for good measure. The project is an initiative of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), now a much besmirched agency in the wake of the controversial National Broadband Network (NBN) project that was abandoned because of allegations of gross overpricing.

Just finishing this project will already be an achievement since it exposed a dangerous weakness in the kind of progress and development this government has been undertaking. For all the mantra about putting into place all the roads, ports and other facilities needed to attract investments, it seems that our information and communications infrastructure is lagging far behind making all the claims about the Philippines being globally-competitive still another sick joke.

More than half of the sites, for example, are set to use the very expensive satellite Internet technology instead of cheaper alternative the so-called DSL and wireless broadband simply because there is no other option. That is a big repudiation of the claim made by top local telecommunications company (telco) Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and its wireless affiliate Smart Communications Inc. that they can provide voice and data transmission anywhere in the country. That is also another sick joke that needs to be rectified.

And, unlike the original NBN project, the LGU CeC project really benefits the recipients of the 260 sites. For many, it is their first encounter with the Internet and are only beginning to realize how to use the available online services not just as a tool but also as a planning parameter in the delivery of basic services to their constituents. For the first time, they have cheap access to the wealth of information available through the Internet. Quite a few have gone so far as to scour for additional sources of funding for key projects that the national government has so far left unfunded.

Equally important, a good the beneficiary LGU’s are also realizing that local telcos, specifically those providing mobile telephone services, are running rings around them by not paying the right taxes and getting the appropriate regulatory permits. Quite a number are set to send demand letters to mobile phone companies to start putting things in order on threat of having their cell towers dismantled.

The bottom line is that in a globalizing economy, we need every advantage we can get and, in many instances, having fast access to the Internet is crucial to fostering sustainable development. But, as much as we deserve it, the truth is we will only get broadband Internet access the hard way and not through the corporate generosity and benevolence of our telcos who choose to dispense it only when they can make a profit.