Wednesday, March 05, 2008 Southern town uses technology for tourism, better tax collection
AS IRONIES go, the municipality of Argao is ancient. It is 400 years old to be exact. But the rapid adoption of technology by what many urbanites might consider to be a sleepy town would put other Cebu towns and cities to shame.
In Argao, the town plaza is a hotspot—meaning it provides wireless Internet access to people with personal computers and other mobile devices.
Interviewed last week, Argao information technology (IT) consultant Querubin Momongan said there are plans to put up additional hotspots in the town.
“We plan another hotspot-on Don Gil Garcia Avenue and one in (Barangay) Talaga,” said Momongan.
He also hopes to extend the hotspots to other barangays, like Taloot and “all areas where there is convergence of tourists.”
Sun.Star Cebu was told that the most common visitors to Argao are tourists and professionals who welcome the availability of an Internet connection.
Access is free, and no password is needed, Momongan said.
Asked how much the free Internet access was costing the Argao government, Momongan said it was minimal, at just around P2,800 per month per hotspot.
Argao Mayor Edsel Galeos said Momongan was also the person responsible for Argao’s countryside business permit licensing system.
The project was started in October 2007. The system was already up as of December 2007, he said.
Galeos said the town is now piloting the payment of real property taxes online.
“We are the first LGU (local government unit) in the whole Philippines that uses the NCC (National Computer Center)-provided system,” he said.
The NCC is the primary office engaged in promoting information technology in government. Under its e-LGU project to computerize local government units, the NCC gives LGUs free software that would allow them to computerize their real property tax system, business permit and licensing system, and treasury operations.
“The plan of the mayor is to connect 10 coastal barangays to our (the Municipal Government’s) server so that they can have free Internet connection,” Momongan said.
“We will extend our treasury services to the barangays,” he added, so that the people from the barangays won’t have to go to the town hall anymore.
Regarding the payment of real property taxes online, Galeos said the system also benefits the many foreigners who are married to Argaoanons.
He said that while the foreigners are out of the country, for instance, when they go back to their home countries for the holidays, they can pay their real property taxes through the Internet.
“We hope to implement it this year,” he said.
Argao, an agro-tourism town, was among the places visited by tour guides and tour operators during the Department of Trade and Industry 7 and Department of Tourism 7’s One Town, One Product (Otop) familiarization tour of southern Cebu last Tuesday. The tour also covered Talisay City, Carcar City and Minglanilla town.
Otop is a project of the Arroyo administration to promote entrepreneurship. Under the project, local chief executives of each city and municipality take the lead in identifying and developing a specific product or service in their respective areas.
Last week’s familiarization tour represented the efforts of the DTI 7 to link Otop to the tourism market so that Otop products could be made available to tourists.
The Otop product of Argao is torta (native cake leavened with tuba).
Torta making was said to have come about after the heavy use of egg white and limestone as binders during the building of the centuries-old Argao church led to the question of what to do with the egg yolks. (CTL)
