Philippines House of Representatives approve E-Government Act

DICT shall establish an e-government master plan to facilitate the development of all government services and processes

Yesterday (August 11), lawmakers approved House Bill No. 6927 or the proposed E-Government Act with a total of 229 lawmakers voting in favor of the proposed House Bill. The passed bill paves way for the digitisation of all government services in the country.

With this bill the government aims to create an e-government master plan ensuring full digitisation of government services and processes for government agencies (public financial management, taxation, payment systems, accounting, business registries and financial systems).

President Rodriego Duterte said “The national government should lead the way in our transition to online systems. It is time for queuing to become a thing of the past.”

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) shall establish an online payment platform allowing businesses and citizens in the Philippines to pay for government transactions and taxes electronically.

Apart from payments, another system will be designed to efficiently secure government documents and records of each citizen. All paper-based documents will go online and later a system managing these documents will also be put in place.

This need to digitise government services became more apparent when COVID-19 hit home. The senator pushing this transition is fully supportive of the President’s initiative to improve efficiency and transparency.

Duterte said that the Philippines needs “e-governance [providing] people with the services they need [from] the comfort of their homes or workplaces. It will enable our bureaucracy to better transition into in the ‘new normal’ and cut or minimize red tape.”

If this goes on to become a law this plan will be reviewed and revised every three years.

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