QUEZON CITY -- The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), led by Secretary Jeremiah Belgica, backed President Duterte’s renewed call for the passage of the E-Governance Act.
In his sixth and final State of the Nation Address, President Duterte said the proposed E-Governance Act will institutionalize the transition of the government to e-governance amid the challenges it faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The measure mandates the government to establish an integrated, interconnected, and interoperable information and resource-sharing and communications network spanning the entirety of the national and local government; an internal records management information system; an information database; and digital portals for the delivery of public services.
It also pushes for the digitization of paper-based and other traditional modes of workflows for a more efficient and transparent public service.
Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go championed the measure in the Upper House.
In 2020, the President tapped ARTA, along with the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Budget Management, and other government agencies, to lead the transition to a paperless government through e-governance.
“While the pandemic has demonstrated readiness, resourcefulness, and capability of the government to serve the Filipino people through the use of ICT and digital services, it has also shown its inherent deficiencies and weaknesses,” he said on Monday, 26 July 2021.
“As such that they ask Congress to pass an E-governance Act that will set up transition of government process, processes to digital aids,” he added.
Belgica said the measure is aligned with ARTA’s vision to streamline and automate government processes for the public’s convenience, as well as their proposal to improve data-sharing among government agencies.
“We join President Duterte in his renewed call for the passage of the E-Governance Act. We have seen the importance of automation amid this pandemic and we pledge to assist government agencies in their transition toward digitalizing their services,” he said.
In September 2020, the Authority launched a series of webinars featuring the E-Governance Agency of Moldova, the Embassy of New Zealand, and the Republic of Serbia to showcase their best practices in terms of e-governance. (ARTA)
