The National Farmers and Fisherfolk Information System (NFFIS), through a web-based data collection system, serves as the platform for the updating of the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) and monitoring of Department of Agriculture’s interventions. With the system, DA will be able to create centralized and nationwide database for farmers and fisherfolks that would support various levels of planning, decision-making, and delivery of interventions for the department.

The database contains information on farmers, farm laborers, and fishermen and their farm parcels. The updated database can significantly improve the delivery of programs and services of the department while making the data available to other agencies that share the same stakeholders as the DA. This project also includes georeferencing of farm parcels to accurately measure the production area and ensure that adequate subsidies are given relative to the needs of farmers and fishers. It also includes the issuance of intervention monitoring cards to registered farmers. The card aims to identify and validate the farmer prior to the release of interventions and other agri-related purposes. This is also to make sure that benefits and interventions are efficiently delivered to the intended beneficiaries of the DA program.

Background and Problem

The Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) has been a helpful targeting tool that pioneered a unified government database in the agriculture and fisheries sector and formed the foundations for sound and effective agricultural support policies and programs. It also served as basis for identifying beneficiaries of the agency’s programs and projects.

However, as with newly formed initiatives, the system has lapses in several important areas such as the absence of list validation, leakages, exclusion of other legitimate agricultural producers, difficulty in linking the registry to other government databases, and ambiguous operational definition of the term ‘farmer’. Also, the data in the RSBSA has not undergone a comprehensive updating. While the database has been updated by cross-matching with existing databases and submissions from local government units, there was no validation conducted nor intensive data gathering to complete the missing information that is required for planning, targeting and implementation. Inclusion in the RSBSA is a requirement and basis for providing financial assistance subsidiary funding, and insurance services for farmers and fisherfolk.

Those registered in the electronic database are given priority in the targeting and implementation of programs in accordance with the special provisions in the General Appropriation Act (GAA). Also, the distribution of interventions using the 10B Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) requires the farmer recipients are listed in the RSBSA. Thus, there is a need for immediate updating of this database.

Solution and Impact

Through collaboration of DA Field Operations Service (FOS), DA Information and Communications Technology Service (ICTS) and the Fisheries Information and Management Center (FIMC) of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), the NFFIS was developed to come up with a fast, effective and end-to-end data collection and monitoring system that will ensure and record targeted issuance of all government interventions (loans, seeds, farm inputs, and boats, among others) to farmers and fishers as well as project places where such interventions are located. Since this will enhance the accuracy and functionality of the RSBSA, it is expected that agricultural support interventions from the government will finally be able to capture all farmers and fishermen who legitimately need subsidies and assistance.

The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC), for example, can subsidize more farmers and fisherfolks who were not previously on the list. The National Food Authority (NFA), on the other hand, can efficiently determine whether the palay delivered to its buying stations originate from the farmers or was just consolidated by traders who take advantage of the higher government support price. At present, the government uses the data in the RSBSA to target beneficiaries for the Production Loan Easy Access (PLEA) program led by the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC). The rice farmers list extracted from the database is also used by the Landbank of the Philippines (LBP) in the issuance of financial assistance under the RCEF.

Milestones

In 2018, the Department of Budget Management (DBM) authorized the DA to update the RSBSA. A Special Order was issued for the creation of the NFFIS and the official body to handle RSBSA related concerns. In 2019, a task force was created to fast track the updating of the RSBSA through the NFFIS. The protocols for registration and updating of RSBSA has also been released and issuance of RSBSA Enrollment forms has started in different municipalities. To further enhance the protocols and action plan to update the RSBSA, the DA has requested the assistance of the World Bank. The activities under this technical assistance covers assessment of previous experiences in establishing farmers and fisherfolk database, enhancement of protocols and instruments for the updating of the registry, and action plan for the nationwide rollout.

The Land Titling Computerization Project (LTCP) is an enterprise-wide flagship initiative of the Land Registration Authority that computerizes and streamlines all business processes and requirements of the LRA. It integrates and secures the various information and database systems of the LRA Central Office (LRA CO) and Registries of Deeds (RDs) to improve the security of titles and registered deeds, instruments and documents, and provide an enhanced service delivery facility for the benefit of citizens. The LTCP covers the following major processes:

1. Registration of deeds and instruments affecting Titled Land;
2. Registration of deeds and instruments affecting Untitled Land;
3. Registration of deeds and instruments affecting Chattel Mortgages;
4. Registration of deeds and instruments affecting Personal Properties; and,
5. Verifications, Certifications, and Certified True Copies.

Background and Problem

Prior to the implementation of the project, the land titling system of the LRA has been largely paper-based with titles and documents being prone to loss and wear and tear. The LRA CO mainly issues Decrees of Registration (for the first time a property is brought into the Torrens System) and approves Subdivision and Consolidation Plans affecting Titled Properties, while the actual registration of deeds and instruments and issuing of land titles are done by the various Registries of Deeds (RDs) having jurisdiction on the corresponding properties. The records of the RDs are not available in the LRA CO and this set-up in titling management created inefficiencies that affected reliability and accessibility of land title information, created delays in service delivery to clients, and created opportunities for corruption (i.e., fixer culture) in the LRA System. The LRA management had repeatedly called out “package deals” among LRA and RD employees in memoranda it released in 1995, 2002, and 2003, and yet this seemed to do little in curbing such a rampant systemic problem. The LRA management said that fixers thrived inside because the agency could not efficiently and effectively manage the volume of business transactions it had with the public. The delays that sprang from these voluminous transactions pushed certain clients to deal with fixers and enabled RD staff to make manipulations and discretions in their dealings with clients.

Solution and Impact

The LTCP attacks these systemic issues in land titling by addressing their root cause: poor system management. Computerization of all business processes of LRA has greatly improved turnover time for the generation of records and issuance of titles and related documents since all records are electronically accessible and regularly backed up. The new information system management has also enabled streamlining and standardization of all business processes and requirements, and the logging of all activities on a framework, thus leaving no room for delays and additional requirements and therefore no opportunities for discretion and bribery. To further expedite delivery of service, the LTCP installed an online tracking system that guides clients on the steps of a business process and helps them monitor the status of their requests. More importantly, the LTCP has promoted transparency and service reliability through:

1. Standard Workflow;
2. Standard Documentary Requirements;
3. Standard Fees;
4. Electronic Archiving of Records;
5. Logs; and,
6. Back-ups.

Milestones

LRA reported in 2012 that the computerization project is already in the fourth out of the five phases of implementation. The first four phases of the project focused on the full computerization of the LRA CO and the RDs while the fifth phase deals with the generation of digital parcel maps corresponding to the land titles. In 2017, the LRA announced that it was able to implement the computerization project in 159 sites of the 162 target RDs and that more than 99% of LRA’s transactions are now being processed through the Computerized Systems. The Agency aims to complete digitization and scanning of all manually issued Certificates of Title in its system of records by December 2019. The agency continuously introduces measures to make the LTCP more responsive to client needs. For instance, through the Title Trace Back (TTB) functionality of the Computerized System, the transacting public are now able to trace the history of a title, helping them to verify the legitimacy of a property’s title. Another innovative solution that is being implemented under the LTCP is the Anywhere-to-Anywhere (A2A) Services. This service allows the Clients to secure a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the Title by requesting it from the nearest computerized Registry of Deeds, even if the registered property is under the jurisdiction of another RD. Part of the new services offered by LTCP are the Geo-Spatial Query Services (“GQS”) and the Parcel Verification Service (“PVS”) or Lot Location Service, which are mapping services used for the graphical representation of land parcels with respect to its geographic location and features within an area.

These are now being availed of by several government agencies for the right of way validation process. In November 2017, LRA launched the Title Upgrade Program (TUP) under the LTCP to ensures the security and integrity of the land titles when people upgrade their manually issued titles into eTitles. In June 2018, the Title Owner Identity Verification System (TOIVS) was launched to help protect buyers from fraudulent sale of real properties from unverified owner, wherein using the System, registered owners may enroll their titles so that prospective buyers shall be able to view the Plan, Block, and Lot Information of the Titles, the contact information, and the photo of the registered owner or the authorized representative. In this same year, the Transaction Preview Notice (TPN) was introduced to help reduce User Errors by allowing the clients to check and verify the encoded title details,  which shall be reflected on the Newly-Generated Title and/or annotation, as the case may be. The Agency also plans to launch soon additional service features for the LTCP such as: the eSerbisyo which shall allow its clients to request for Certified True Copy (CTC) of titles through an online web portal; and the Citizen’s Land Registration Portal (CLRP), a web-based self-service portal which shall allow LRA Clients to enter relevant information for registration.

The UNI-PASS is Korea’s comprehensive and 100% electronic clearance system that unifies all customs procedures from export to import clearance, duty payment, tracking of bonded goods, and requirement confirmation into a one-stop, uninterrupted pass service, enforcing efficiency, transparency, and full control of the customs administration through a stable IT system.

Background and Problem

The development of the first Korean customs system dates back to the 1970s when the Korean economy began growing at an accelerated pace. In the stretch of time since the first customs system, between a paper-based system and an annual 15% increase in trade volume, numerous challenges in custom administration emerged (e.g. no readily available data for research and analysis, long clearance time, voluminous clearance requirements, delay in monthly reports, no proper risk management system, and limited human resources), confronting the Korean Customs Service (KFC) with a resolution to develop an electronic customs clearance system that will computerize customs procedures and automate clearance processes to better serve the public and other government agencies. The computerization and automation process did not hatch overnight—it is a product of years of system improvement and countless trial and error.

Solution and Impact

The UNI-PASS as an e-Customs system has several main components with sub-systems. The Single Window portal, which serves as a one-stop service for all customs clearance procedures, is lodged in the Business Processing Component together with the other modules that gather, consolidate, and transmit information to agencies and entities: the procedural business module (i.e. clearance management, cargo management, duty collection, etc.) and the non-procedural business module (i.e. investigation, surveillance, audit, etc.). The other components supporting the Business Processing Component are the Integrated Risk Management System, the Customs Data Warehouse, Knowledge Management System, Performance Management System, and the Law Compliance System. Overseeing these functions is the Infrastructure Component which provides the tools for administration and control of the customs administration. As far as transparency and efficiency are concerned, the e-clearance system has been instrumental in speeding up transactions by allowing traders and companies to apply online for regulatory permits and licenses, declare goods for importation, locate cargo, and review the progress of import and export clearances in real-time, without having to visit customs offices. The KCS reports that with UNI-PASS, processing of export and import clearances only takes less than 1.5 minutes compared to the respective one-day and two-day processing time before the e-clearance system. Duty drawback and duty payment now only take 5.2 minutes and 10 minutes to process. Previously, the waiting time for processing the two takes two days and four days, respectively. In terms of costs and savings, Final Report on Accomplishment Measurement of Customs Modernization and Development of Accomplishment Management Model by National Computerization Agency (September 2006) stated that for the past 30 years, UNI-PASS has been able to create 3.5B USD as economic effect with the reduction of costs for work process and logistics, savings in infrastructure, and increased income and production by traders and the trade industry.

Furthermore, UNI-PASS has also been facilitative in the more open sharing of information between the KCS, the regulatory agencies, and other stakeholders. Through the platform, customs officers can easily retrieve, verify, and use the information for statistics, analysis, and audits. Customs officers can finally check cargo status and location real-time throughout the process, giving them tracking advantages for ensuring the timely arrival of bonded goods to their destination. In addition, the system gives room for effective integrated risk management: by sorting companies into low-risk and high-risk categories based on compliance records, the customs authority releases faster clearance and related incentives for those categorized as low-risk, and enforces stricter inspections on high-risk companies. With all the system reforms in place, UNI-PASS is able to ensure the integrity of customs service and the satisfaction of customers.

Milestones

Korea’s UNI-PASS started as a simple trade statistics system when it was launched in 1974. Phased development of the automated clearance occurred between 1990 and 2004. The following were developed at the time: export and import clearance (1996); cargo management (1997); paperless clearance (1998); and the investigation system (1999). Supporting solutions were introduced to the UNI-PASS system such as the Customs Data Warehouse (2001); the Knowledge Management System (2001), and; Risk Management System (2003). As it developed further into a third-generation system, more advanced features were added: Internet Portal (2004), Duty Collection (2005), Drawback (2005), Single Window (2005), Performance Management System (2007), Integrated Risk Management System (2007), and AEO Management System (2008).

In 2011, UNI-PASS began functioning as a fourth-generation system that provides smart business-aligned service and works to establish the International Trade Single Window that will connect e-trade network and import/export logistics networks such as e-Trade Platform of the Korea Trade Network Corp. (KTNET), Korea Air Cargo Information System (KACIS) of Incheon International Airport Corp., Shipping & Port-Internet Data Center (SP-IDC) of KL-NET Corp., etc. Alongside these efforts, KCS is involved in assisting 10 other countries to establish their own e-customs system, among them are Ecuador, Tanzania, and Uzbekistan.