Senator Joel Villanueva, the majority leader in the Senate, wants to fully adopt and institutionalize e-governance, noting that the Philippines lags behind in terms of putting digitalization programs into practice.
Villanueva also cited the most recent 2022 World Digital Competitiveness Ranking, which placed the Philippines as the lowest ranking among Southeast Asian nations at 13th among the 14 Asia-Pacific economies, just ahead of Mongolia.
This ranking was included in Senate Bill No. 1574, or an "Act Institutionalizing E-Governance in the Government," which was filed on November 29.
The senator highlighted a 2020 World Bank research showing that the Philippines was placed 171st out of 190 nations for beginning a business, 120th for registering property, and 95th for paying taxes.
According to Villanueva, these numbers show that the Philippines needs to catch up in terms of digitalization.
He also said that the Philippines must accept and adjust to the sector's changing needs by putting in place programs meant to help the country move toward a digital economy and digital solutions.
The legislation requires all governmental offices, departments, and instrumentalities—including local governmental entities—to publish all pertinent information online as well as through more conventional channels, with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) serving as the principal agency in charge of carrying out the Act's requirements.
Additionally, it aimed to create the Integrated Government Network, which would serve as a master plan and the main channel for sharing and communicating data, information, and resources across digital and electronic platforms used by government agencies.
This network, known as "GovMail," would be used for all communications, information sharing, and information dissemination.
