GMA orders DBM to cut down government phone expenditures

President Arroyo ordered the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) yesterday to limit government expenses on telecommunications to those using it for official business.

"She also wants networked solutions that are less costly, more efficient and not taking advantage of the Internet," Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said in a statement yesterday.

"We expect all government agencies to strictly implement our standing austerity measures. Modern information and communication technologies should be rationalized for speedy and smooth government transactions that maintain the quality of service we deliver to the people."

Bunye said the DBM is looking into Mitra’s report and will devise ways to lessen unnecessary telephone calls. "What is important I think is to discuss right from the start the budget for communication of each agency, and how not to overspend beyond the allotment," he said.

The DBM has set the necessary guidelines on the proper use of government communications equipment and facilities, Bunye said.

Budget Secretary Romulo Neri said they are eyeing several measures, including the use of the VoIP (Voiceover Internet Protocol) system as suggested by Mitra to lower the government’s annual phone bill. "Like what we do here at the DBM, we budget calls at P1,500 per director," he said.

Another way to cut down government spending would be to give officials a fixed budget on cell phone calls, he added.

A Commission on Audit report showed that out of the P3.73 billion communication bill, national government agencies accounted for P1.897 billion; government-owned and -controlled corporations, P1.116 billion; and local governments, P710 million.

Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra revealed the other day that the government spent a whopping P3.7 billion last year on landline and cellular phone bills.

Government personnel could save precious taxpayers’ money by limiting their phone use or paying for personal calls instead of charging these to their offices, added Mitra, a member of the House appropriations committee deliberating on next year’s proposed P1-trillion national budget.

Mitra said the P3.7 billion was described as "communication expenses" and included payments for Internet subscriptions.

Mitra said Internet subscriptions among local governments tripled in 2004 to P19 million, while national government agencies paid P159 million for the same service.

The total cellular phone bills among bureaucrats amounted to P414 million, excluding those of officials of state corporations, he added.

Mitra said last year’s total phone bills were higher by P447 million than the P3.28 billion the government paid in 2003.

To save on phone expenses, government agencies connected to the Internet could use the new technology called Voiceover Internet Protocol or VoIP, which allows a user or subscriber to place phone calls through the Internet without costly long distance or mobile phone charges, he added.

Mitra said the new technology converts the voice signal from a telephone into a digital signal over the Internet, and then converts it at the other end so that a user can speak to anyone using his or her Internet connection.

Landline and mobile phone companies have been opposing its use since they stand to lose huge sums in long distance phone bills, he added.

Liberalizing the use of the new technology would not only benefit government agencies and private business entities, but also the families of overseas Filipinos, especially workers, he added. Mitra has filed a bill in Congress seeking to liberalize the use of VoIP. — Aurea Calica