DAVAO City Councilor Bonz Andre Militar announced on Tuesday, September 26, that the 20th Council approved on the third and final reading the ordinance aimed at implementing a "Less Paper System" in line with the Local Government Unit's (LGU) goal to digitize government transactions.
Militar said the Legislative Information Support System Program (LISSP) is now mobile-responsive, providing easy access to ordinances and committee reports from any location.
To implement the system, the council will prepare tablets for councilors, acquire the necessary hardware for LISSP, establish a data protection firewall, and subscribe to cloud services.
Militar noted that the public can view passed legislation on the website, but not all ordinances will be available there.
"During [the] committee hearing ang sulti sa atoang SP na landmark ordinances lang ang pwede ma-view so ang mga lain ordinances kay mag request pa sa SP (During committee hearings, the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) decided that only landmark ordinances can be viewed on the website, while other ordinances must be requested from the SP)," Militar said.
Approximately P4.9 million was allocated for the Less Paper Ordinance, with a significant portion dedicated to procuring laptops for stenographers.
Militar emphasized the need for digital transformation, citing the council's lack of necessary gadgets, which the Less Paper System aims to address.
The council previously consumed about 70 rims of bond paper per session, which will be significantly reduced with the Less Paper System.
Militar said the Less Paper System and LISSP will simplify the process of requesting reports for councilors, enabling easy access to documents regardless of location.
To safeguard data, the council purchased a new-generation firewall with built-in antivirus capabilities, capable of preventing data breaches.
The software will require a one-time payment, while cloud subscriptions will be renewed annually.
Additionally, the council invested in redundancy internet to ensure uninterrupted access to the internet-based less paper system.
Militar mentioned that all councilors are tech-savvy and have co-sponsored the Less Paper System ordinance. Before full implementation, the committee will conduct orientations and training sessions for councilors to ensure their familiarity with the system.
The implementation of the LISSP program is expected to take approximately two to three months before it is fully operational. RGP
