Thank you, Secretary Henry Aguda.
The Cabinet members who are here today and all of the other agencies that are here today because of their participation [please sit down] in our upgrading our services. Mayor Francis, Cong. Bel.
Pagdating ko rito kanina, pagbaba ko sa kotse ko, sinalubong kaagad ako ni Mayor at saka ni Congresswoman, sabi nila “welcome home.” [applause]
Ang katotohanan talaga naman tiga-San Juan naman talaga kami.
So, it’s very nice for me to be able to open the one-stop shop here in San Juan because it is not only – hindi lang naman sa Maynila ito, hindi lamang sa San Juan, kung hindi sa buong Pilipinas. Iyan ang ating ginagawa na magkaroon.
Matagal na natin naririnig ‘yung term na “one-stop shop”. Ngunit kung minsan matagal nang – ang nararanasan ng mga kababayan natin ay hindi talaga na – hindi pa nararamdaman ‘yung magandang talagang sistema na one-stop shop.
Alam naman natin lahat ang sitwasyon na ‘yan. Pagka kukuha ka ng permit; mag-renew ka ng license; magbabayad ka ng kung anong kailangan mong bayaran doon sa local government, sa national government.
Pupunta ka sa isang opisina. Pipila ka ng dalawang oras. ‘Pag pila mo sasabihin, “O sige, okay na ito. Pipirmahan na namin.” Ngayon, kailangan mo ngayong pumunta doon sa kabila at kukuha – pipila ka na naman ng dalawang oras at kukuha ka na naman ng pirma.
Pagdating mo doon sa pangalawa, sasabihin sa’yo, “Kulang pa ito ng clearance. Kailangan mo pang pumunta sa office na ganito, ganyan.” Pipila ka na naman nang katagal-tagal.
And that is impossible for an ordinary citizen. Dahil isipin ninyo you have to take the day off work. You have to find somebody to take care of the children. You have to find somebody who will take your place if you are working in an office. Sino ang mag-cover para sa’yo. It’s just impossible.
So, that’s why we always have – we have always aspired to actually being able to do a one-stop shop na isang punta lang ay nandiyan na lahat.
And this is now what we are inaugurating here in San Juan. But as I said, it’s not only here in Luzon, Metro Manila. We will also do the same thing for all the local governments around the country.
And I think that that is a very, very important development because we are trying to make things easier for our kababayans so that they can go about their business na hindi naman sila nahihirapan at kung ano-ano pang pangangailangan na nauubos ang oras nila. Sometimes it takes more than – to get a normal clearance, it takes more than one day. Because pila ka nang pila, ora-orada nakapila ka, and then, it turns out pagdating sa 5 o’clock, “kulang pa ‘to.” So, tomorrow o next day, maghahanap ka na naman ng oras para pumunta.
That is what we are trying to fix with this one-stop shop. And I think with the system that we have put together, I am very, very optimistic that this will make things much easier.
And then, we have now taken it even a step further. And [the] government of the Philippines has finally moved into the 21st century and that is with the eGov app [applause] that we had seen our friend David present… He actually wrote the code to this. Kaya alam na alam niya ito.
But again, this makes things much, much easier. That is why we are – the aspiration here is that we will even go one step further for those people na medyo malayo sa Poblacion, malayo sa opisina ng national agency, eh mas mabibigyan ng pagkakataon na basta’t may connectivity – and I’m looking at Secretary Henry Aguda about the connectivity because we’re working hard. Kailangan lahat ng Pilipino may connectivity. Nakakapag-internet, may access sa Wi-Fi.
Basta’t may connectivity, hindi na kailangang pumunta sa ahensiya. Hindi na kailangang pumunta sa Poblacion. Hanapin ‘yung kung sinong tao na kailangan kausapin para makuha ang clearance, maayos ang papeles, et cetera.
At nakita naman natin sa demonstration ni David na ito ay kaya nang gawin sa kahit saan. Basta’t mayroon kang cellphone, mayroon kang smartphone, may computer ka, basta’t may connectivity ka, you can do all of this online na nasa bahay ka lang.
And we are now going to – what we have to do is I think medyo nagugulat ang tao pagka binibigay namin ang mga statistics that 88 million have actually already acquired their national ID – digital, digital national ID.
Inuna namin ‘yung digital dahil siyempre iyon talaga ang pinakanagagamit. Ngunit may sektor pa rin ng ating lipunan na nag-i-insist doon sa physical ID. So, isusunod na namin ‘yun.
Ngunit with the digital ID, we are able to do all of the things that the eGov app is able to do. You can all do that in the comfort of your own home, in your office, or you know, while you’re playing Candy Crush. If you have five minutes, then do the paperwork that you need to do over the internet.
We are very proud of this eGov app not only because it is really an enormous step in making things more convenient for our people. But aside from that, I have to congratulate David, it has been recognized [applause] around several organizations in the international community as a very, very good application that will certainly make the lives of our people easier.
And I encourage everyone: Download. Mag-down na kayo ng eGov app ninyo.
At kung hindi pa kayo sanay, tingnan muna ninyo what is there. Like anything else, kailangan ninyong maging komportable doon sa eGov app.
Pero nai-download ko na ‘yung eGov app. Iyon lamang hindi ko pa tinatanggap ‘yung aking senior citizen’s card. [laughter] I’m still in denial.
But otherwise, I was able to do everything that I needed to do. As all of the… Eventually, in fact, all the payments to government can be done over Wi-Fi. We do it already. Karamihan na – ‘yung almost 50 percent now of our transactions are actually digital.
So, we can just keep moving. We just keep moving, make it even more… And eventually, all the payments that you make to government, to the BIR – for the fees that you need – you can do it now over the eGov app through electronic banking.
So, that is a very, very large advantage. And so, we have put the structures in place, we have put the application in place, and we have already – the different agencies know what they need to do.
Iyon lamang kailangan lang natin ipakalat sa taong-bayan na mayroon ng ganito at subukan nila at gamitin nila. Ang aming suggestion ay ‘yung lahat ng mga iba’t ibang ahensiya kapag sila nasa website dapat nila na may ganito. Kapag may dumadating sa opisina, ipaliwanag din o bigyan ng kaunting flyer para ipaliwanag.
Actually ang katotohanan, hindi ninyo na kailangan pumunta rito. Basta’t mayroon kayong connectivity, may Wi-Fi kayo, ito na lang ‘yung gagawin ninyo.
I always tease those of my generation, I guess, ‘yung mga nakakatanda sa inyo ‘pag hindi ninyo naintindihan, ‘yung anak ninyo, ‘yung apo ninyo kayang-kaya ‘yan.
So, it’s very, very – it’s really very easy. We have made it as easy as possible for even the non-techies as they have been called. Even the non-techies who are still a little bit uneasy about using computers, a little bit uneasy about using a smartphone will become comfortable using all of this.
At napakadali. It’s very intuitive and it is – now, that goes these two elements – the one-stop shop plus the eGov app ay mapupunta na tayo doon sa amin… Ang aking instruction sa kanila: walang korupsiyon, walang fixer, walang pila. [applause]
Iyan ang makukuha natin dahil dito sa eGov app at saka sa one-stop shop na ating binukas ngayon.
As far as I’m concerned, we’ve been working hard on this for a long while quietly and I’m very happy that we have come to this point where we have opened the one-stop shop, and that we are going to bring to all the LGUs that have already subscribed to the program. And furthermore, that we are now rolling out the eGov app for the other services of all the agencies of government.
And this is a new day, and like I said: Finally, the Philippine government, the Philippine bureaucracy, our LGUs, have finally moved into the 21st century.
Thank you very much. Good morning. [applause]
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