Leyte goes for paperless transactions after Yolanda

Rappler.com

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Leyte goes for paperless transactions after Yolanda
Imagine when Leyte's 40 municipalities and one component city submit their thousand-page budget documents – that would be about 656,000 sheets of paper

MANILA, Philippines – Government offices in Leyte province are going green.

To help conserve natural resources, the provincial government, starting with the provincial board, will do paperless transactions, according to Vice Governor Carlo Loreto.

The initiative will introduce real-time transmission of the provincial board’s meeting agenda, minimizing the use of paper during its sessions. 

According to Loreto, the initiative is one way to protect the environment – a lesson many people from Leyte learned the tragic way after floods during Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) destroyed much of the province.

Moderate needs

Loreto said a document submitted to the provincial board requires 16 copies per page, to be distributed to all 14 members of the board and the secretariat. 

Imagine then when Leyte’s 40 municipalities and one component city submit their thousand-page budget documents for the provincial board’s perusal – that would be about 656,000 sheets of paper, Loreto said.  

Loreto, who authored the province’s environmental code, said the paperless transactions policy complies with Republic Act  8792 or the Philippine Electronic Commerce Act of 2000.

“We should moderate our needs. We should  consume less – less electricity and water, less wood. Abusing the environment has consequences,” Loreto told Rappler.

In a memorandum issued on March 24, the provincial government noted how pulp mills contribute to air, water, and land pollution. Worldwide, the pulp and paper industry is the 5th largest consumer of energy. World consumption of paper rose by 400% in the past 40 years, with 35% of harvested trees used for paper manufacturing alone.

Digital submissions

Under the new policy, town councils, the city council of Baybay, all government and non-governmental agencies, individuals, and groups transacting with the provincial board will be required to submit the following:

  • At least one copy of the document in digital format
  • A hard copy of the document required by the official transaction

The board secretariat will send to the vice governor and to the floor leader by email or through any electronic mode of transmission all proposed items in the agenda of the session every Thursday of the week. 

The approved agenda and attachments will then be posted on the provincial board’s page on the vice governor’s website and other social media sites.

Loreto also encouraged local officials to post on social media sites other official information that affects the public. The vice governor posts on his Facebook account documents tackled in provincial board meetings that he presides. – with a report from Voltaire Tupaz/Rappler.com

Photos of matrix and documents from Shutterstock.   

 

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