President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. (Photo courtesy of PCO)
President Marcos has signed a law that institutionalizes the transition of the government to e-governance.
Marcos signed Republic Act No. 12254 or the E-Governance Act on Sept. 5, 2025.
Under the law, the government shall implement a "regulated, secure, and robust information and communication system" to facilitate a responsive and transparent online citizen-centered services.
The act covers all executive, legislative, judicial, and constitutional offices, including local government units (LGUs), state universities and colleges (SUCs), government-owned or-controlled corporations (GOCCs), and other instrumentalities.
It shall also cover back-end government operations between and across agencies and government-to-government transactions.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) shall be the lead implementing body and administrator of the law.
The law orders the DICT to adopt a national policy and process that promotes innovations, supports start-ups, and facilitates the entry and adoption of technologies.
The DICT shall also support, advise, monitor, and guide government agencies in ensuring the quality, security, and reliability of their respective ICT infrastructure and services.
Within one year of the effectivity of the law, the DICT shall establish a government-wide EGov Unified Project Management Office (EGov UPMO) which will be tasked to ensure that ICT projects in the government are efficiently managed.
The EGov UPMO shall be headed by the Undersecretary for E-Government of the DICT.
An E-Government masterplan shall also be formulated by the DICT, which will serve as a blueprint for the development and enhancement of all electronic government service processes and workforce to achieve digital transformation in the bureaucracy.
Under the law, LGUs were ordered to establish their own portal or utilize the eLGU system developed by the DICT.
An electronic payment facility and gateway that will enable citizens and businesses to remit and receive payment electronically to or from the government shall also be created.
The DICT shall likewise encourage and promote the use of Government Public Key Infrastructure digital certificates that allow paperless transactions and remote approval by signatories in the government to reduce red tape and enforce ease of doing business.