House to save at least P9M in move to go paperless, digital

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives will go paperless and digitize its transactions in a bid to save at least P9 million spent yearly on paper alone, House leaders said Tuesday. 

In a press conference, Senior Deputy Majority Leader Crispin Remulla said Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano already approved and allotted a budget for the proposal to go paperless, which they aim to implement at the soonest time possible. He also said the chamber is studying the possibility of providing tablets for each of the 300 congressmen. 

“We were informed this afternoon that the Speaker already approved in principle the amount needed for a paperless House. So we will just work out the mechanics very soon… what system to adopt, what kind of tablet, or what hardware or software we’ll be using for this purpose,” Remulla said. 

Deputy Majority Leader Wilter “Sharky” Palma II said a study conducted in the House bared that at least P9 million was spent on paper by the chamber yearly, while the cost of printing ranges from P12 to P15 million.

“That would really, really cut the cost of our expenditures here in the House,” Palma said of the proposal which is being finalized by an adhoc committee tasked to revise the House rules. 

Aside from going paperless, Remulla said they also plan to digitize the committee work as well as the filing of bills so they could easily track the status of measures. 

Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez meanwhile said they would also upgrade the internet connection of the House in line with the chamber’s plan to digitize. /je