DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The 20th City Council has conducted a dry run to reduce its paper use from over 9,000 pages down to 500 pages per session.
“Our aim is to protect the environment since every session the council uses 9,000 plus of paper, or a total of more or less 15 reams,” said Bonz Andre Militar, head of the Information Technology Committee of the City Council.
Since Tuesday this week, the lawmakers are expected to use their own laptops during the session to access the copy of ordinances, resolutions, committee reports, and other additional documentation for every item on the agenda.
The City Council holds a weekly regular session.
Tek Ocampo, head of the Environment Committee, said the use of laptops during the session not only benefits the environment but also provides convenience to councilors accessing different documents for reference and interpellation.
“It’s more convenient and faster for me. We can easily access everything since the links to the documents are already provided,” he said.
Back in 2018, the City Council purchased 27 laptops worth P1.3 million to be used by councilors during session to reduce their paper use by 80 percent. Currently, it has already developed a system where all documents can be uploaded and accessed by all councilors and its employees during sessions while all copies of ordinances, resolutions, and committee reports must be requested to the Office of the Council Secretary for public use.
“We’re doing it by phase, not sudden, because we want to perfect every step,” Militar said, the proponent of the digitalization of documents. He is also eyeing to redevelop the city council’s website portal to better provide the public access to information. (davaotoday.com)
davao city, philippines
