VALENZUELA City 1st District Rep. Rex Gatchalian sought an inquiry, in aid of legislation, of the status of the implementation of the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act and the Open Distance Learning Act.

In his House Resolution 291, Gatchalian said the investigation aims to address implementation gaps, issues and challenges of the two laws.

The probe will also determine the effectivity of the two laws in education institutions and learning centers in order to craft complementary or amendatory legislation.

This, he said, will ensure uninterrupted, fast and reliable internet connectivity and continuous learning especially during pandemics, endemics, outbreaks and other emergency or crisis situation.

Data from the Free Public Wi-Fi monitoring dashboard showed there are at least 945 public basic education schools with free public Wi-Fi, or only about two percent of all public schools in the country.

On the implementation of the Online Distance Learning Act, publicly available data show that there are at least only 10 reputable higher education institutions offering distance education.