The House of Representatives passed a bill that would pave the way for digitizing all services provided by government agencies to Filipinos. 

On Tuesday, August 11, lawmakers approved House Bill (HB) No. 6927 or the proposed E-Government Act on 3rd and final reading with a vote of 229-0-0.

The bill would task the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) with creating an E-Government Masterplan to facilitate the development of digital services and processes of government agencies.

This plan would be reviewed and revised every 3 years if HB No. 6927 becomes a law. 

Under the E-Government Masterplan, the DICT is expected to put up an online payment platform to allow Filipinos and businesses to pay for government transactions electronically, including taxes. 

Frontline delivery services for Filipinos would also be streamlined by integrating the online registration processes implemented by local government units and the following government agencies: 

• Department of Trade and Industry
• Securities and Exchange Commission
• Cooperative Development Authority
• Bureau of Internal Revenue
• Social Security System
• Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG
• Philippine Health Insurance Corporation

An online and real-time platform would also be created to cover all procurement processes, from bidding out contracts to the payment of services and supplies.

The bill would also mandate the digitization of paper-based government documents and records, which would then be archived in a records management information system.

The Senate version of the E-Government Act is still pending at the committee level. 

The need to digitize government services became more apparent when President Rodrigo Duterte imposed varying degrees of quarantine across the country due to the coronavirus pandemic. (READ: Industry leaders ask the question: ‘How do you make a data-driven Philippines?’)

The proposed E-Government Act is not the only pending bill in Congress requiring the government to shift to digital platforms. 

The House approved on Monday, August 10, the “better normal” bill that would require Filipinos to follow several health and safety measures even when the COVID-19 pandemic is over. The measure also wants to make it mandatory for government offices to shift to digital services. – Rappler.com