Speaker Martin Romualdez on Friday assured President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that the House of Representatives would speed up plenary approval of bills seeking to digitalize the government’s voluminous records under the proposed E-Governance Act and E-Government Act shortly after Congress resumes its session on Nov. 7.
Congress has started its own digitalization project after a team of officers of the chamber led by Secretary General Reginald Velasco learned best practices in this area in a meeting with representatives of the Congressional Research Service of the Library of the United States Congress in Washington D.C. recently.
“The House of Representatives has already initiated its digitalization program and I assure the public that we are exerting all efforts to deliver faster service and eliminate red tape in government transactions,” Romualdez said.
He made the assurance in reaction to the President’s call for the swift passage by Congress of the measure to enable the country to catch up with other nations in the digital economy.
The Speaker said the House committee on information and communications technology chaired by Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco has formed a technical working group to consolidate two related bills, the proposed E-Governance Act and E-Government Act.
The group is headed by Davao Oriental Rep. Cheeno Miguel Almario.
Romualdez is the principal author of House Bill No. 3 or the proposed E-Governance Act of 2022.
“I have asked the committee to submit a report as soon as possible so we could expedite plenary approval of the consolidated bill,” he said.
“We are one with President BBM and the Executive department in making government transactions and delivering services in a faster, more efficient, and more transparent way through the digital platform,” the Leyte solon added.
In filing HB No. 3, Romualdez said government policies “must be responsive to the needs of our people, rather than burden them with totally avoidable restrictions.”
Digitalization “is evidently the most efficient solution to the gap in the delivery of government services,” he stressed.
His co-authors of the measure are House Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Alexander Marcos, and Reps. Yedda Marie Romualdez and Jude Acidre of Tingog party-list.