This would be the perfect combination if it could be implemented.
Why do I say if it could? Simply because it’s not that easy to do. For one, digitization involves making choices about which programming language to use and user interface design. Then there is the nature of transactions of each government department and agency. The most common requirement would be a database.
Just to give you an idea, you can now apply for an NBI clearance online. The portal is basically for data capture. You enter all your pertinent information on the form. You’re given a reference number and asked to pick an appointed date and time to proceed to the NBI satellite office nearest you.
On the day of the appointment, there’s still a line at the satellite office. You wait for your turn to present your reference number. Your picture and thumbprints are taken. Between the data capture, the picture and thumbprints, it takes a total of 30 days before your NBI clearance is ready for pick-up from the satellite office.
I had to get my permanent Pag-Ibig membership identification number because what I received when the program took effect was only a reference number. I went to the Pag-Ibig website and entered all the pertinent information. Data capture again. After this process, I was asked to go to the nearest Pag-Ibig satellite office to get my membership identification number. No appointments like for the NBI Clearance.
I went there first thing in the morning before they opened. There was already a line. It was orderly enough and you were given a number. Why did I have to go to the satellite office? It just repeated the data capture process.
The LTO has been “computerized” since the advent of Stradcom as its service provider since 1982. You can check a vehicle’s registration status by sending a text message to 2600 and enter the vehicle’s plate number. This only works for the three-letter and three-digit alphanumeric plate numbers. They haven’t been able to encode the three-letter and four-digit alphanumeric plate numbers.
The Motor Vehicle Inspection System which was for implementation in 2022 but was postponed to 2023, requires all motor vehicles to pass a standard inspection before registration. If they don’t pass the inspection for roadworthiness, you won’t be able to renew the registration of your motor vehicle. The results are now supposedly “uploaded” to the LTO but you still have to present the inspection certificate when you renew your registration at the LTO District Office. Most district offices still keep hard copies of the actual records. It hasn’t been digitized.
If you own property and would like to sell it, you need to get a certified true copy of the transfer certificate of title to show to prospective buyers that the same is free and clean of any liens or encumbrances. But when you go to the Registrar of Deeds where the property is located, it will take about thirty days for you to get the certified true copy. Why? The Land Registration Authority’s digitization program has been in progress for the past five years. It’s not really a replacement of the hard copy of the TCT but rather, a picture of the TCT. You have to pay for the “digitization” of your TCT.
As a contractual Content Writer for the Department of Finance, the Communications Division wanted us to register as professionals with the BIR to comply with the latest Revenue Order covering professionals. Lo and behold, given our monthly pay and six month contract duration, we didn’t even exceed the threshold and wouldn’t be subject to income tax but they still wanted us to proceed with the registration.
Believe it or not, the BIR doesn’t have a central database for individual taxpayers. The last time I had regular income, I was still a resident of Paranaque. I had to physically go to the Paranaque RDO to transfer my TIN to the RDO where I am presently residing.
I’m sure there are plenty of other horror stories out there when it comes to transacting with government departments and agencies. I wonder if the National ID will be the basis of government for building a database of individual Filipinos to serve as the master record of their transactions with government.
Digitization has two essential components; software and hardware. You can’t just adapt off-the-shelf software because that’s expensive in terms of annual license fees. Open source software is more feasible to deploy. Linux and Ubuntu, another version of Linux, is usually what is used to build systems from scratch. Hardware is not only the work stations but also the servers and networks. The system will not run efficiently if the network is not optimized, which is why the custom software should be designed around the network.
Aside from Linux, there is Blockchain. Blockchain is more secure because it is an independent and transparent peer-to-peer system with excellent security. It cannot be easily hacked. It also features automation such as contract formulation and execution, up to the payment process. An election system can even be built on Blockchain. Think of the billions of pesos saved from fees paid to Smartmatic if an integrated system can be built.
Right-sizing is more about organizational structure and staffing patterns. Our present bureaucratic structure suffers from the malaise of having many departments and agencies with overlapping functions and staffing patterns which defy logic but conforms with political patronage. This is especially true at the local government level with job order employees. Our career civil service system is a joke.
The Senate is the best example. It is a redundancy that needs to be eliminated. Twenty-four Senators with an annual budget of P400M for their office and staff alone. We should’ve continued with the unicameral system put in place by the 1973 Constitution. That was more efficient in terms of cost and legislative output.
Where and how to begin is the operative question. It’s easy to make a statement but hard to formulate a plan and implement it. Estimates of losses due to corruption are anywhere between 20% to 40% of the annual budget. This is simply unacceptable and can’t be allowed to go and tolerated if there is to be genuine bureaucratic reform.
This early, there have Marcos is being compared to Duterte in terms of management styles and executive decision-making. I’ve heard comments of “hindi ko ramdam si Marcos” and “parang ang bagal kumilos.” There is definitely a difference in mindset but there is also a difference in what they inherited from their predecessors. Duterte had a bigger problem in peace and order which needed to be addressed immediately when he became President.
In the case of Marcos, the ongoing health crisis coupled with the global economic meltdown is a heavy burden given the problems we face in terms of food and energy security and continuing infrastructure development. As I’ve said before, it will take more than amendments to laws regulating foreign control of businesses to generate foreign direct investment on the scale that Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia are getting.
But make no mistake about it. Marcos needs to unveil a plan on July 25 when he delivers his first SONA. He shouldn’t concern himself with the 15M Filipinos who make up the opposition. He has a mandate. He has political capital. He has a supermajority in both houses of Congress.
He has to act and act decisively.
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