A LAWMAKER revealed the digitalization of the session of the Sanguniang Panlungsod is still pending due to a delay in the development of the system.
The 20th City Council approved on the third and final reading last September 26, 2023, regular session the ordinance upgrading of the Legislative Information Support System Program (LISSP).
Councilor Bonz Andrei Militar, information technology committee chairman said the system takes three to six months to be developed.
“Currently the status is we are in the testing phase to start this month or the first week of May,” Militar said.
Militar shared they are waiting for the gadgets, and finalization of the program’s output given the system is mobile-ready.
Once the mobile-ready application is finished, it will be installed on the tablets to be provided for every councilor.
The upgrading of the LISSP is the city’s initiative to digitize government transactions and institutionalize the “less paper session” system.
Apart from the digital transformation of the session, it also reduces reliance on printed materials and simplifies the request for certain documents. The system will contain all agendas, committee reports, attachments, and other items converted to digital copies.
Militar shared that since the session utilizes papers for documents, the reams of paper used previously in sessions averaged 17, but digitalization will cut it down to five.
Before launching the system to the city council, the councilors especially the non-tech-savvy will undergo training on the usage of the system.
In the new system, a website will also be made available where the public can view all the passed and approved legislation provided they make an access request.
The committee is also looking into digitalizing the local civil registry office to ease transactions.
