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Organization

University of the Philippines Diliman

Best Practice Focus Area/s

Operations

Year Implemented

October 2019

This is a Recognized Best Practice

Summary

The development of the UP Diliman Supply and Property Management Office (UPD SPMO) Common-use Supplies and Equipment (CSE) Portal was initially conceived as a project of the 2018 ASPIRE Training for process streamlining and improvement. The SPMO group of the UPD ASPIRE Batch 1 and 2 proposed to streamline the existing process of ordering of common-use supplies and equipment from the UPD SPMO Central Storeroom to a Lazada-type of online ordering for CSE items procured from the PS DBM. This was in accordance with Republic Act No. 11032, otherwise known as the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.

Background and Problem

Before developing the Supply and Property Management Common-Use Supplies and Equipment (SPMO CSE) Portal, the total number of days for processing the request for issuance of Common-Use Supplies and Equipment (CSE) is around four days. Outlined below is the process flow on how the end-users request/order supplies from the UP Diliman SPMO:

Step 1. The end-users call the UP Diliman SPMO if the items are available at the Central Storeroom of UPD SPMO.
Step 2. If the items are available, they will manually prepare a Requisition and Issue Slip (RIS) and have it signed/approved by the Head of Unit and budget cleared by the Accounting or Budget Office.
Step 3. Submit the approved Requisition and Issue Slip (RIS) at the UPD SPMO Central Storeroom to issue Common-Use Supplies and Equipment (CSE).

The problem occurs when the approved and budget-cleared Requisition and Issue Slip (RIS) is submitted to UPD SPMO, and the supplies are no longer available. This results to the cancellation of the approved and budget-cleared Requisition and Issue Slip (RIS), and the users will have to repeat the process. Some items in the RIS are partially canceled due to the non-availability of stocks upon submission of approved RIS. As per data gathered from October 2018 to September 2019, 58% of RIS have partially canceled items and needed to go through the process again.

Below is the summary of Requisition and Issue Slips (RIS) with partial canceled items:

Month	No. of RIS Received	No. of RIS partially canceled	Percentage of RIS with Cancellation
		2018
October	57	30	53%
November	18	11	61%
December	16	8	50%
		2019
January	61	38	62%
February	42	32	76%
March	59	17	29%
April	33	22	67%
May	43	25	58%
June	41	41	100%
July	57	36	63%
August	16	9	56%
September	84	39	46%

Another problem encountered by the end-users is the manual issuance of Certificate of Non-Availability of Stocks (CNAS) because the end-user would make the request after they have already purchased the items. Reimbursement procedures require purchases to be made only when stocks are not available in the SPMO. Otherwise, the reimbursement may be disapproved.

The amount of time saved by the UPD SPMO in eliminating the actual issuance of CNAS is around 5 minutes from printing to the signing of the CNAS or a total of 430 minutes per day or around one person-day in a month.

Screenshot of the SPMO Portal website application.

Solution and Impact

100% adoption of the CSE Portal by UP Diliman offices/colleges/unit – All the 170 offices/colleges/units have registered. They are using the facility already, and 100% of them confirmed that it had addressed their needs, and 98.4% confirmed that it has satisfactorily improved and hastened the processing of their requests. It was easy for them to adapt to the system because it was similar to online sites like Lazada.
Streamlined procurement process and Improved documentation – With the creation of a database, all data and transactions are stored in a central repository. Data recording and filing are automated at the point of transaction, so data retrieval and reporting is faster. The system also allows users to reserve items for three (3) days while they seek budget clearance and approval for the purchase. This reduces the rework that usually happens with the previous system when items with an approved budget go out of stock.
Information on available balance – An added feature for the end-user is information on their available balance as any unused balance may be carried over. They can still order the previous month’s balance as it is carried over to the following month until the total quantity they provided in their APP-CSE is fully utilized.
Reduced transaction turn-around time – The processing time was reduced from 4 days to just 4.5 hours per transaction. This is seven times faster than the previous turn-around time. Multiply this by the number of transactions UPD SPMO processes, resulting in significant savings in manpower who can be given other types of work.
Better information and planning – With the central storage of data, UPD SPMO can now analyze the movement of items, required stocking levels, seasonality, and other items that may be added to the inventory. It gives UPD SPMO the needed information to better plan and serve the university.
Customized Product Catalogue – The product catalog shows whether the items are available or out of stock. It also indicates the maximum quantity each end-user can order monthly based on their submitted Annual Procurement Plan for Common-Use Supplies and Equipment (APP-CSE).
Empowered end-users – The Statement of Non-Availability of Stocks (SNAS) is implemented in SPMO’s Facebook page instead of the manual issuance of the Certificate of Non-Availability of stocks (CNAS) so the need for the users to request UPD SPMO to generate the CNAS and SNAS was eliminated. The end-users can already generate these themselves from the portal resulting in a saving of 1 person per day per month.

Milestones/Next Steps

Project Conceptualization as part of the Administrative Staff Program towards Institutional Resiliency and Excellence (ASPIRE) Program – a program designed to equip UPD administrative personnel with the necessary knowledge, mindset, and skills in developing and implementing a Quality Management System that will help organizations attain improved and efficient operations, sustained culture of innovation, customer-driven delivery of services, and empowered human resources:
- August 2018–Statement of Non-Availability of Stocks (SNAS) generation through the SPMO Facebook Page;
- May 2019 –Requisition and Issue Slip Process Flow Improvement and development of Common-Use Supplies and Equipment Portal
Implementation of SNAS generation through SPMO Facebook Page–September 2018
Development of the System Design–May 2019
Approval of System Design–June 2019
User Training – 16-17 September 2019
Soft Launch of the CSE Portal–October 2019
Full System Implementation–November 2019
Implementation of e-wallet feature effective February 2021
Delivery to end-users of CSEs effective April 2022

Organization

Freedom of Information-Program Management Office (FOI-PMO)

Best Practice Focus Area/s

Strategy, Citizens / Customers, Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management

Year Implemented

25 November 2016

This is a GBPR finalist entry

Summary

In response to the advent of technology and the need to provide Filipinos with efficient access to information mechanisms, the FOI-PMO developed the electronic Freedom of Information (eFOI) Portal (www.foi.gov.ph). The platform allows users to request government information, track their requests, and receive the information they requested online. To effectively handle the influx of requests, the portal is also designed to assist government offices in receiving, processing, and responding to online requests.

Background and Problem

On 23 July 2016, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed Executive Order (EO) No. 2, s. 2016, operationalizing the Executive Branch of the People’s Constitutional Right to Information or the Freedom of Information (FOI) Program. The said EO strengthens the People’s right to information under the 1987 Constitution. It is meant to become a mechanism for the government to promote transparency and accountability in governance. On 25 November 2016, 120 days after publishing the EO, the PCOO, through the FOI-Project Management Office (FOI-PMO), launched the FOI Program and the eFOI Portal.

Before creating the eFOI portal, requests for information may be lodged in government offices by submitting a physical copy of an FOI request form. This hinders the public from filing their FOI request to government offices, especially those residing outside Metro Manila (e.g., a citizen from the Visayas cannot file an FOI request to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) in Metro Manila without physically going to the office of MMDA).

Solution and Impact

The creation of the eFOI portal is our response to digital development. This portal was created to allow Filipinos to access government information online conveniently. Transparency is the program’s primary goal, so the details of the requested information, response time, and outcomes of requests made within the eFOI portal are published.

The eFOI portal started with fifteen (15) pilot agencies in 2016, namely, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Transportation (DOTr), National Archives of the Philippines (NAP), Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC), Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), Philippine National Police (PNP), and Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

Security, Scalability, and High Availability are significant factors to the success of the eFOI Platform. The eFOI Portal Technical Infrastructure balances the multiple goals of running the eFOI Platform System. It harnesses the platform of Google Cloud to provide security, reliability, consistent performance, and manageable costs. The eFOI portal can successfully operate and empower its users to further perform their duties and responsibilities.

Here are some of the challenges in the implementation of the FOI Program that were addressed by eFOI:

The portal provides a centralized repository for all requested information on government activities, averting the risk of a fragmented approach by agencies for FOI.
Using technology, the portal allows efficient and timely quality service from all agencies, averting the risk of duplication in agency-level efforts and budget utilized for FOI implementation.
Performance monitoring for agencies can be used as a basis for policy, e.g., performance-based budgeting. It can be a starting point for the streamlining of government processes.
The portal promotes demand-driven transparency and accountability, made possible through a web-based platform that simultaneously receives and tracks multiple requests.

The portal increases public participation in government processes through extended web reach. Three and a half (3 1⁄2) years into its implementation, the eFOI portal already has a total of 487 government agencies onboard, 186 out of 189 (or 98%) national government agencies, 92 out of 111 (or 83%) government-owned or-controlled corporations, 96 out of 111 (or 86%) state universities and colleges, 110 out of 520 (or 21%) local water districts, and three (3) local government units) with 31,827 led eFOI requests.

Milestones/Next Steps

By implementing best practices, the Freedom of Information-Project Management Office (FOI-PMO) is now an accredited member of the International Conference of Information Commissioners (ICIC), a global forum for information rights. The FOI Philippines is the first member of the ICIC from Southeast Asia and the fifth from Asia.

In its three-year program implementation, FOI-PMO successfully met the primary eligibility criteria of protecting, promoting, and ensuring the respect of access to public information in the Philippines, under the leadership of former Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary and FOI Champion Jose Ruperto Martin Andanar and former Assistant Secretary and FOI Program Director Kristian R. Ablan.

The PCOO is tasked as the lead implementing agency of the FOI Program. It established the FOI PMO as the main office to oversee and monitor the FOI Program implementation in the Executive Branch.

As an instrument of change, ICIC (https://www.informationcommissioners.org) aims to be a global forum that connects different countries worldwide to become responsible for protecting and promoting access to information. It builds the capacity of its members and raises more awareness to such advocacy of sharing information, which fuels more opportunities and fosters global progress. ICIC also encourages and supports dialogue and cooperation by becoming a forum that creates a more convenient way for other countries to connect and share their different knowledge and practices. This will also help improve the transparency and accountability of governments.

As global progress is becoming collective, ICIC provides a platform to unite voices from the international community to raise awareness on the impact and effects of access to public information. This great endeavor propels the development and adoption of specific international standards on accessing public information globally, including establishing independent information commissions.

Being internationally recognized is another step for the FOI advocacy to become more than just an Executive Order; another step for our country to be a transparent nation. FOI’s primary goal is for information to be available to the nation.

Implementing Agency:

Municipal Government of Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro

Year Implemented:

2004 – Present

Theme

Perspectives on Productivity, Governance, and Development

General Description

The Pinamalayan Community eCenter (CeC) is a hub, run by the Municipal Government of Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro, that empowers communities by bridging the digital divide through e-literacy training and ICT services. The eCenter also manages the official website of the municipal government and the individual websites for each of its 37 barangays, where important announcements and events and official documents are posted for transparency and public information.

Background and Problem

Before implementing the program, there were only a few computer units available at the municipal hall for public use, and only a small number of LGU employees were computer literate. Municipal government operations relied on the use of typewriters for drafting reports and other documents, which resulted in a laborious and time-consuming municipal data storage and retrieval process. Access to public records was also difficult as there was only a limited number of available hard copies, and thus required a visit to the source office to view them personally. These limitations played a part in the municipality’s increasing number of unserved and underserved constituents.

Solution and Impact

In 2004, the Pinamalayan CeC was formally established through the Jumpstarting Electronic Governance in Local Government Units (eLGU) project of the National Computer Center (NCC). The goal of the eLGU project was to grant LGUs a headstart in adopting ICT by empowering them in their capability to embrace ICT and apply its benefits to local governance to radically speed up public service delivery and improve service quality. The NCC initially provided two (2) computer units, one (1) printer, and other peripherals to the CeC, while also conducting several computer literacy training and seminars for its personnel. Although the funding from the eLGU project was not sustained in the following years, the LGU took over the operation of the center. In 2007, the LGU converted the CeC project into a separate operating unit. The direct management was transferred to the Municipal Planning and Development Office (MPDO) in 2014.

Aiming to address the digital divide in the community, the eCenter organizes various ICT-related trainings (e.g. Course on Basic Computer Operation and Tutorial Session on Windows software), seminars, and forums that are customized to the needs of the stakeholders, which include teachers, students, women, barangay officials and secretaries, and key staff from local businesses. The CeC also accepts IT students from different colleges who are doing their practicum to bolster the center’s manpower. Other ICT-related services offered in the CeC include computer use with internet access, basic electronic services (e.g., scanning, printing, use of fax machine, CD burning), and hardware and software repair and maintenance.

The Pinamalayan CeC is also in charge of managing the official website of the municipal government and the individual websites for each of its 37 barangays. The website serves as the LGU’s platform for posting important announcements and events as well as official documents for public information and reference. Among its features is a feedback mechanism, which enables residents to send messages, inquire about services, and log any complaints . This allows for a constant survey of how the municipal services can be further improved.

In December 2019, the CeC was recognized as Pinamalayan’s Technology Empowerment for Education, Employment, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development (Tech4ED) center, through a Memorandum of Agreement signed by the Municipality and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Region-4B MIMAROPA. Tech4ED centers are tasked to provide access to a number of services: learning platforms, computers, the internet, ICT assistance, ICT-related training, and eGov services such as processing online applications such as birth certificates, passport applications, NBI clearance appointments, etc. With this, the CeC was granted by the DICT a total of twelve (12) computer units, four (4) of which consist of additional equipment, i.e., a multi-functional printer, an IP camera, and a router to accommodate increased municipal services.

*Community eCenter Computer Laboratory (2021)*

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the eCenter’s management has also begun taking part in extending technical and administrative assistance to the LGU’s COVID-related interventions in terms of (1) preparation and printing of forms and documents needed for the Special Amelioration Program (SAP); (2) implementation of StaySafe App; (3) development and administration of database of registrants using the Health Declaration Form (HDF) for the Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs), Authorized Person Outside Residence (APOR), and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs); (4) COVID-19 vaccination of residents; and (5) encoding of records of fully-vaccinated individuals in the municipality.

Milestones

The Pinamalayan CeC won first place, in the Best in eGOV Customer Empowerment (G2C) category during the 2018 Digital Cities PH Awards. This category recognizes the measurable effect of an LGU’s best practices using ICT solutions in the education and engagement of the public and in the use of electronic facilities and channels towards providing improved, timely and relevant delivery of public services (Sigue, 2018).

*Digital Cities PH Awards (Source: Pinamalayan Community eCenter Report)*

In 2019, the project was also accorded a Self-Sustaining CeC award during the 2019 Tech4Ed Conference, for having existed as an eCenter for 15 years.

*Pinamalayan CeC Oriental Mindoro Self-Sustaining CeC Award (Source: Pinamalayan Community eCenter Report)*

Testimonial

“Summer time po noon, kami po ay nagkaro’n ng seminar do’n sa aming e-Literacy. Kami po ay nabibigyan ng panahon at pagkakataon… Ito po ay nagamit namin sa aming pagtuturo. [Noon, ako] po talaga ay iliterate ‘pag dating po sa computer. Talaga pong ako’y walang kaalaman.”
– Gregoria S. Medina, Public School Teacher

“Nung una po, wala po sa loob namin na mag-intindi na matuto ng computer, dahilan po sa wala naman kaming computer na magagamit sa amin sa barangay. Takot po ako gumamit ng computer at hindi ko po alam kung paano ko yan uumpisahan gamitin… Ngayon po, nung kami ay nakakapasok na sa eCenter, nagkaroon kami ng lakas ng loob na talagang mag-adhika na magkaroon ng computer din namin sa barangay. Naisip namin na masarap palang magtrabaho at magkaroon ng kaalaman tungkol sa computer… Napakabilis po pala naming matatapos ang aming mga gawain kung sa computer kami matututo.
– Fe de Chavez, Senior Citizen

Photos

Sources

Municipal Government of Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro. (2021). Pinamalayan Community eCenter (pp. 1–52).

Sigue, J. B. (2018). Digital Cities PH awards recognize top eGovernance projects of LGUs. Jocelle Batapa Sigue. Retrieved from https://jocellebatapasigue.com/2018/10/13/digital-cities-ph-awards-recognize-top-egovernance-projects-of-lgus/

Toriano, R. A., Evangelista, J. H., & Chispa, K. T. (2021, December 6). Pinamalayan Community eCenter. personal.