Swift plenary approval vowed on bills digitalizing government records

MANILA, Philippines — Speaker Martin Romualdez yesterday gave President Marcos assurance that the House of Representatives will speed up plenary approval of bills that will digitalize the government’s voluminous records when Congress resumes session on Nov. 7.

In a statement, Romualdez said the House will immediately deliberate on the proposed E-Governance Act, which he authored, and E-Government Act after the recess is over.

He underscored that the House has started its own digitalization project after a team of officers of the chamber, led by Secretary General Reginald Velasco, learned best practices from representatives of the Congressional Research Service of the Library of the United States Congress in a meeting in Washington recently.

“The House of Representatives has already initiated its digitalization program and I assure the public that we are exerting all efforts to deliver faster service and eliminate red tape in government transactions,” he said.

The lawmaker gave the assurance in reaction to the President’s call for the swift passage by Congress of the measure to enable the country to catch up with other nations in the digital economy.