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THE government on Friday launched the eGov PH Super App, an integrated platform designed to make it easier for the public to do business with state agencies.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Information and Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy led the launching of the mobile application in a ceremony in Malacañang.
In his speech, the President lauded the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for launching the app, saying it will provide the public with a hassle-free transaction and lessen corruption in government.
“This is what we are pushing for. This is what e-governance is about — to bring it all together, to make it simple and available and accessible,” Marcos said.
“I am very, very happy that we are going in this direction. There is another part of this that is extremely important, that is sometimes we do not talk about, and that is the lessening of corruption,” he said.
The President stressed the importance of digitalizing government services, saying it would be “useful, easy and convenient” for ordinary Filipinos.
He said maximizing the use of new technologies would also get rid of “fixers” who ask for money in exchange for facilitating transactions with government agencies.
The President said the government “did a survey of how people used the internet in the Philippines and the result was quite enlightening. They say, 95 percent of their daily activities, the shopping, the paying, the bank, even the payments to government, 95 percent are done online.”
“We hope with the beginnings of this e-governance system, that a senior living in an isolated place, isolated island somewhere who, by the time we will have connectivity, can just go on to their phone (and transact),” he said.
Marcos stressed the country needs “high-impact” innovations to compete on an “even basis” with the United States and Europe.
“Government as well must be able to identify and utilize high-impact innovations to improve its own governance and transform itself into an agile bureaucracy that is responsive to the people’s needs,” he said.
“This is not something an option that we might want to examine. This is something that we need to do. We have no option of not doing this. This is something that is required,” he said.
The President said the launch of the online platform is a “very good step” in attaining his administration’s goal of full digital and economic transformation.
Local governments have already started to digitalize, the President said. “Now, what we have to do is to consolidate all of those systems in place. Allow them to communicate with each other in a way that is useful for the consumers, for the citizens in terms of, again, the business that has to be conducted with government.”
Marcos also said the government has been working on the delivery of national IDs, which will be “the central focal point for the dissemination of information and the dissemination of services.”
He admitted that the IDs were “a little unsatisfactory because what we call an ID is essentially a picture of an ID. There’s no data that backs it up.”
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Thursday said around 37.3 million printed national IDs had been turned over to Philippine Postal Corp.
In a related development, the President expressed support for the Paleng-QR Ph Plus Initiative and urged government agencies to educate Filipinos on how to utilize e-wallet and other digital payment apps.
Speaking during a meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Digital Infrastructure Cluster in Malacañang Thursday, the President said such an initiative would help prop up economic activities, particularly with the inclusion of micro, small and medium enterprises.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has teamed up with the payments industry to have a national quick response (QR) code standard for digital payments.
The digital program will be particularly useful for merchants, business owners and other forms of local transport.
The QR codes and digital payment apps will make savings and loan applications in banks a lot easier for farmers, fisherfolk and small businesses, PSAC members told Marcos.
PSAC member and Globe Telecom President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ernest Cu said the QR codes and other digital payment apps are a “home run” for the government.
Cu acknowledged the importance of educating the public, adding that the country has a “very high technology adoption rate.”
“We have to do it. It’s a grassroots-level approach. There are also videos on YouTube, and we also have TikTok to get people to educate themselves. And if you use the app regularly, you will see it being offered to you on the app,” he said.
BSP Governor Felipe Medalla said the initiative will create a “big” impact on financial inclusion.
PSAC lead convenor and Aboitiz Group President and CEO Sabin Aboitiz was also present during the meeting with Marcos, along with Union Digital president and CEO Henry Rhoel Aguda, Bank of the Philippine Islands Chief Operations Officer Ramon Jocson and PLDT Inc. President and CEO Alfredo Panlilio.
Aside from rallying support for Paleng-QR Ph Plus Initiative, PSAC made new recommendations for the President’s approval.
The council recommended that the Development Academy of the Philippines, in partnership with the National University of Singapore-Institute of Systems Science, conducts a Philippine Civil Service Digital Leadership Program for mid-level to senior civil servants on digital leadership and agile thinking.
Also on Friday, the President issued an Executive Order for all government offices and local government units to implement an integrated financial management information system (Ifmis) in their transactions with the general public.
Signed on June 1, EO 29 is in line with the Marcos administration’s commitment to improve bureaucratic efficiency through digitization, according to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).
The order was recommended by the Private Sector Advisory Council’s (PSAC) Digital Infrastructure group to help promote efficiency, transparency and ease of doing business between the private sector and the government.
The circular also urges government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCC) to implement an Ifmis.
Marcos also ordered the creation of a Public Financial Management (PFM) Committee, composed of representatives from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of Finance (DoF), Commission on Audit (CoA), and the Bureau of Treasury (BTr), to help in the transition to full digitalization through the Ifmis.
The committee will create a five-year plan for the development and implementation of the Ifmis.
The DICT will provide the committee with technical and policy support.
— Catherine S. Valente and Kristina Maralit
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