House Secretary General Reginald Velasco (right) and Senate Sec. Renato Bantug Jr. (left) sign the memorandum of agreement for the launching of e-Congress at the National Museum in Manila, Thursday, March 9, 2023. (Photo from the House of Representatives)
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives and the Senate on Thursday jointly launched the electronic Congress portal or the “e-Congress” in a bid to digitize the legislative branch’s services.
Senate President Miguel Zubiri, senators Loren Legarda and Joel Villaueva, as well as representatives such as former president Gloria Macalpagal Arroyo and House Majority leader Manuel Jose Dalipe attended the launch at the National Museum Manila.
“The House of Representatives, along with the Senate of the Philippines, now jointly establish and maintain an integrated and secure digital legislative management system for the Congress of the Philippines,” said Arroyo, who read the message of Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
According to Romualdez’s message, on top of digitizing legislative records, services and processes, the two chambers of Congress will have a platform to more easily exchange knowledge.
“E-Congress will also provide updates on the status of bills, resolutions, and report legislative undertakings to inform the public and encourage citizen participation. To ensure the success of e-Congress, there will be a continuous capacity building to develop and enhance the digital skills of legislators, legislative staff and other stakeholders,” said Romualdez through Arroyo.
Dalipe expressed similar sentiments, adding that people will have a better understanding of what legislators can do. This would then help them fight misconceptions about Congress.
“Our e-Congress system and our e-Congress web portal will not only allow us to work better and faster but will also give the public better access to what we really do as legislators,” said Dalipe.
The portal can be accessed here: https://econgress.gov.ph