The Policy Work of Jocelle Batapa-Sigue

Jocelle Batapa – Sigue is immersed in policy work and advocacy since 2004. She is a dynamic and prolific policymaker and policy activist both in the local and national level. She has served as resource speaker and member of House and Senate TWGs on the Creation of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Bill and in the Senate TWG for the Ease of Doing Business Bill of 2018 or Republic Act No. 11032.

She has participated in hearings and drafted proposals for the Republic Act No. 10844 and the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the DICT Law.

With her policy leadership as chair of the Sanggunian Committee on Communications in 2004, stakeholders in the City of Bacolod and the Province of Negros Occidental came together promote Bacolod as a destination for ICT-enabled jobs and investments. She organized group called the Bacolod IT Focus Team, which worked together to develop strategies and programs designed to include Bacolod City and Negros Occidental among the growing centers of innovation in the country, specifically to pursue ICT-readiness and competitiveness as part of the Philippine Cyber Corridor. She prepared all the policy ground work and conducted all the consultations to ensure the readiness of the city of digital jobs.

As chair of the committee on Women and Gender of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, she authored many ordinances pertaining to women such as the Bacolod City Gender and Development Code, The Ordinance creating the Bacolod Inter-Agency Council Against Human Trafficking and The Anti-Worst Forms of Child Labor Ordinance

She served as Chair of Bacolod City Gender and Development or GAD Council from 2004 to 2010.

She is the Founder of Anti-Trafficking Legal Advocates Society (ATLAS) and currently the chairman of the Board of Voice of the Free (formerly Visayan Forum Foundation), a national network against human trafficking and child exploitation where she continues her policy advocacy for the rights of women and children.

During her last term as city councilor, she was given the opportunity to chair the committees on trade and commerce and tourism and international cooperation, along side the committee on history, culture and arts.

She has also actively promoted policies on environment and ecological preservation as part of her personal advocacy.

As a city councilor for nine years in, she has crafted, authored and led the legislation of major ordinances as follows:

(Please click the policy to reach the original copies of the ordinances.)

NOTE: No available copy yet of the following ordinances”

C.O. No. 504 S. 2009: Declaration of Bacolod as Organic City (Anti-GMO Ordinance)
Declaring February of Every Year as Bacolod Arts Month (BAM)
Institutionalizing a Tourism Homestay Program for Bacolod City and Setting Global Standards for Homestay facilities in Bacolod
Reduction of Police Clearance Fees for Purposes of Voter’s Registration
Regulation of the Commercial Sale of Spray Paint Cans in Bacolod

DRAFTS OF PROPOSED ORDINANCES BY COUNCILOR JOCELLE BATAPA-SIGUE

The “Walkable City” Ordinance of Bacolod, Prescribing Strategies to Improve the Pedestrian And Road-Sharing Experience in Bacolod (Proposed September 2014 – originally names as “Setback Ordinance)
Creating the Charter for a Polytechnic University in Bacolod and Converting the Bacolod City College for that Purpose
Establishing Central Business Districts in Bacolod
Every First Week of July of Every Year As Cleft And Craniofacial Awareness And Prevention Week In The City Of Bacolod
Ordinance Declaring Specific Major Roads in the City as Tourism Roads (Proposed November 2014)
An Ordinance Creating the Bacolod Youth Development Council (BYDC) Proposed September 2014

As part of her advocacy for ICT she has conceptualized, crafted and implemented various programs related to her policy work. As a proponent of ICT in government, she developed the major concepts behind the annual eGovernance Awards for ICT Excellence for LGUs as chair of the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP) together with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). The eGov Awards, after 6 years, is now under the auspices of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) as Digital Governance Awards. Under her watch, she developed four more categories aside from the original categories, which are G2C (Government to Citizens) and G2B (Government to Business) – these are G2G (Government to Government), G2W (Government to The World), D2G (Data to Government) and P2G (Payment to Government).

In her capacity as NICP co-founder, she has been to almost fifty provinces to assist local government units in crafting policies for ICT jobs and investment generation. She has been invited to share policy insights in other countries like Guatemala, India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, Bangladesh and the US.

She also conceptualized and crafted policy proposals in her capacity as founder of the Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology (BNEFIT) – namely: The ICT Startups Equipment Support (ISES) with the Department of Science and Technology, Business Resource Center – Shared Services Facilities (BRC-SSF) with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Technology Business Incubation Center (TBIC) program with the Province of Negros Occidental.

She served as consultant for the Province of Negros Occidental and was responsible in designing policies to create ICT-enabled jobs and investments for the province.

Last 2018, AVPN-BMW Foundation Policy Leadership Lab has cited Jocelle Batapa Sigue as Policy Innovation Fellow of the Philippines from June 2018 to June 2019, 2019. The purpose of the fellowship is to cultivate the next generation of social economy policy leaders across Asia and to identify policymakers who share the commitment to build a vibrant and high impact philanthropy and social investment community in their countries. Building on the AVPN Asia Policy Forum (APF) and BMW Foundation’s Responsible Leaders Network, the Lab offers high-touch and in-depth peer-learning, networking and capacity building opportunities for a select group of policymakers with AVPN membership and stakeholders.

This leadership experience leverages on annual programme cycle of Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) Asia Policy Forum, Membership and Knowledge Center activities headquartered in Singapore and BMW Foundation global activities, to provide extensive opportunities for learning and connecting with stakeholders that share the similar experiences and objectives.

Today, she continues her work to explore policy strategies in creating seamless education to employment goals anchored on the development of Future of Work skills, specifically digital skills among tertiary level students. Her direction is to engage policy makers from local to national level in government, academe and business sectors.

To reach out and request for copies of policy work and proposals, please email ceo@jocellebatapasigue.com