Filipinos now have a new "anti-marites" and "anti-fake news" tool in the form of the eCongress website.
House Majority Leader and Zamboanga City 2nd district Rep. Mannix Dalipe gave this description of eCongress, the launch of which he attended on Thursday, March. 9, at the National Museum in Manila.
"Our eCongress system and our eCongress web portal will not only allow us to work better and faster but will also give the public better access to what we really do as legislators," said Dalipe in his closing remarks at the event.
"This is our most potent anti-marites (rumor monger) tool…anti-fake news tool as we endeavor to fight the many misconceptions about the members of Congress," he said.
The eCongress website is basically an amalgamation of web portals of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Some will find it easier to navigate than the two dedicated websites for either chamber.
Dalipe commented on how rumor-mongering can have a negative effect on the legislators.
"Nakakalungkot mang isipin pero madalas na nasisira ang imahe ng ating mambabatas dahil sa mga fake news na galing sa mga marites (Sad to say, fake news coming from rumor mongers often ruin the image of lawmakers)," he said.
"Kaya naman natutuwa ako sapagka’t sa pamamagitan ng ating eCongress plaform at itong ating web portal, may mapupuntahan ang ating mga kababayan na gustong magsaliksik sa napakarami nating ginagawa sa Kongreso (That's why I'm elated because, through our eCongress platform and our web portal, our countrymen would be able to research about the many things we are doing in Congress)," Dalipe said.
Dalipe believes these programs would also strengthen coordination and facilitate citizen engagement in the legislative process.
"I hope that with the launching of this system, we could also soon complete our dream of creating a fully functional congressional e-library. This will take a little bit more time because the encoding and digitization of all archived documents since the creation of Congress are really painstaking," he said.
"But we are committed, the Philippine Congress is committed, to answer the challenge of the rapidly increasing demand to keep up with technology through our eCongress system," the House leader further said.