DAVAO City’s groundbreaking shift to digital records management, through the City Records Management System (CRMS) under the City Archives and Record’s Office (Caro), has earned national recognition anew.
The fresh award is the second major award this year, with a special citation from the Development Academy of the Philippines in the 2025 Productivity Challenge, Paper Less: 1 Million Sheets of Paper Served on November 11, 2025.
The award was given to the city for pioneering a digital system that significantly reduced paper use and enhanced operational efficiency in government offices.
Earlier this year, Caro’s CRMS was also given the Digital Governance Excellence Award by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for enhancing efficiency in local government operations.
Caro head Mary Grace Nabong told the City Information Office that the awards affirmed Caro’s success in replacing manual methods with a digital system that improves efficiency, supports environmental sustainability, and demonstrates strong leadership commitment to modernizing government services.
“The awards prove that our initiative is working and kanang maka-support gyud sila sa atoang objectives on less paper records management tapos increased in productivity when it comes to kana bitaw’ng pag-file, pag-search. Dili naman ta doing the manual process. It’s the system who works for us in the filing, retrieval, or access of records. Of course, the environmental impact that we have been supporting our streamlined process (The awards prove that our initiative is working and that they can really support our objectives on less paper records management and increase productivity when it comes to filing and searching. Now, it’s the system that works for us in the filing, retrieval, or access of records. Of course, the environmental impact that we have supporting our streamlined process),“ she said.
First launched in 2018 with the City Information Technology Center (CITC), the system was designed to streamline operations while promoting sustainability.
She emphasized that since its establishment, the CRMS has processed over 8,728,713 pages, saving 1,091.09 trees, 261.86 kiloliters of water, and generating enough energy to power more than 2,000 households for a day.
Nabong also said that based on a study by HowStuffWorks, an online educational site, a single pine tree, approximately 1 foot (0.3 meters) in diameter and 60 feet (18.3 meters) tall, can produce about 80,500 sheets of paper. By going digital, they saved approximately 1,091.09 trees from being cut down, contributing significantly to forest conservation and reducing our carbon footprint.
She added that with printing costs averaging P5.92 per page, including ink, paper, transport, and manpower, Davao City has saved P51,673,980.96 in expenses by going digital, which can now be redirected to public services.
Users can also submit, track, and manage records without printing a single page. It also provides a step-by-step user guide that is available to help staff and citizens navigate the CRMS.
CRMS stands as a model of how digital innovation can drive both operational excellence and environmental responsibility as Davao continues to modernize public services.
“For the Dabawenyos, let’s support kaning digitalization efforts of the city government because it will enhance productivity, we will save time and money, of course. Mas dali pod ang transaction on to the public when we do or we support digital innovations (For the Dabawenyos, let’s support this digitalization efforts of the City Government because it will enhance productivity, saves time and money of course. The transaction by the public is also easier when we do or we support digital innovations),” she added. CIO