A SPIRIT OF SERVICE, A GLOBAL PRESENCE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER KATHLEEN G. HECETA Deputy Commissioner Kathleen G. Heceta, who is set to retire next year after many years of service in the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), is a living image of how a public servant can, with very little fanfare, bring honor to her office, the government body she works for, and her country.
Deputy Commissioner Profile
Deputy Commissioner Heceta was first and foremost a lawyer, and it was that keen mind, astute understanding of the law, mixed with a fervernt desire to nurture the growth of the telecommunications industry, its players and the customers it services, that enabled her to plumb the complex issues that deal with this particular sector, and craft policies and guidelines that would serve for its improvement. She always had an eye for the long-term and the ramifications of her and the Commissioner's decisions on the future of the telecom industry. Prior to her appointment as Deputy Commissioner, Atty. Heceta was Director of the NTC Legal Department and a Career Executive Service Officer, CESO III. Deputy Commissioner Heceta ensured that the Philippines made its mark in the international community. She has represented the country in a number of global gatherings, serving as head or alternate head of the delegation. She was the Philippine representative to the World Trade Organization Negotiations on the Basic Telecommunications Services in Geneva and attended the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Services, specifically the telecom sector.	Other prestigious posts that Deputy Commissioner Heceta held include: Chairman of the International Telecommunications Union's (ITU) Working Group to establish the Draft ITU strategic Plan 2004-2007, which was approved at the 2002 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference held in Marrakesh, Monaco; Member of the Council TROIKA, along with Russia and the USA, 2001; President of the governing Council of the ITU, 2000; Several Plenipotentiary Conferences of the ITU. Deputy Commissioner Heceta will be leaving a legacy that is worth emulating, and a standard of excellence that public servants can and should aspire to. Anyone who steps into her shoes may find it a challenge to match her unblemished and honest career as a public servant. Those who know and remember this charming and amiable lawyer with fondness wish her the best of success in her return to a well-deserved private life. After dedicating much of her life in public service, she undoubtedly will enjoy the same level of success in whatever endeavor she embarks on.