The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has awarded six municipal e-governance systems to the municipalities of Nabua and Bula in Camarines Sur to serve as a model for smart governance for local government units.
The DOST’s Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) said the six interrelated systems will work as a cluster of interdependent modules in the following areas:
Legislative Management and Tracking System is an application that tracks the status, manages, and stores all communications, requests, proposed resolutions and ordinances, Sanggguniang Bayan resolutions, and ordinances.
The e-Building Permit System is a 24/7 service that systemizes the building permit process by allowing citizens to easily track the progress of permit requests, schedule inspections, attach electronic plans and requirements, receive corrections, leave messages, and self print certifications.
The Real Property Assessment and Tax Management System is an application that automates real property transactions and provide onscreen public viewings of delinquent real properties for auction and the online printing of Declaration of Real Property Value (DRPV).
The e-Business Permit and Licensing System allows for the computerization of the permit application process, assessment of taxes and fees, billing, and liquidation of collections.
Financial accounting uses the Point of Payment System (PoPS) which acts as the central unit that accepts and manages payment transactions from fees, taxes, and charges being collected by LGUs.
The Local ID System aims to enhance the portfolio of citizen-centric services.
All of the systems were developed by the Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges.
DOST-PCIEERD executive director Enrico C. Paringit expressed optimism on the prospects of having the system replicated in other LGUs in the country.
“We hope that other LGUs can look at the innovations that the Nabua municipal office has incorporated and see it as a model in improving their own services and processes,” he said.
With the solutions, Paringit said local government services can be integrated into a one-stop Web portal by automating level operations across departments and sub-offices in compliance with the Smart City program of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
He said the e-governance initiative provides automated management, administration, and analytic systems for LGUs to encourage citizen participation and bring in added opportunities through open source technologies.
Paringit urged policy-makers to provide funding to LGUs to cover human resource and equipment and integrate an e-governance funding into the municipalities’ annual budget plan.
“Sustaining the innovations we have started entails bankrolling these initiatives and will make sure that they are optimized to its full potential,” he said.
