Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Juanito ‘Jonvic’ Remulla has strongly pushed to simplify and digitalize the signing of documents by the mayors and governors.
In a statement, Remulla underscored the importance of the computerized system with the local chief executives (LCE) spending at least three hours a day or 15 hours a week in signing numerous contracts like contracts, notice of salary adjustment, notice of award, among others.
During his stint as Cavite governor, Remulla recalled once signing four copies of the notice of step increment for each of the province’s 4,000 employees.
“Dapat matapos ko ‘yun. Pirma lang ng pirma, puwede namang digitized, so we are going in that direction (I had to finish them. I was signing endlessly, it could be digitized, so we are going in that direction),’’ Remulla pointed out to the local chief executives during his recent visit in Cebu.
President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., during his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) last year directed all government offices to digitize vital services immediately to combat corruption and facilitate the ease of doing business.
Remulla reiterated his goal “to simplify the work of local chief executives and make things more systematic and efficient considering their huge workload and the expectations from their constituents.’’
“Kayo (LCE) ang direct link sa tao, kayo naman ang araw araw nagsisilbi eh. Let’s make our life simpler and lead more effectively (You are the direct link to the people, you are the once rendering public service daily. Let’s make our life simpler and lead more effectively),’’ he added.
The DILG chief stated that the DILG is currently conferring with the Commission on Audit (COA) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to devise a program to simplify the process.
“We would come up with a program. By June 30, 2025, ang pirmahin n’yo (LCE) na 15 hours a week, irereduce natin to one hour a week na lang, by digitalization, simplifying the forms, lahat yan simplified into one hour a week (your 15 hours a week of signing documents, we will reduce this to only one hour a week by digitalization, simplifying the forms, all of them will be simplified into one hour a week),’’ Remulla assured.