Marcos: PH needs to keep up with neighbors on digitalization

President Ferdinand Marcos is seen in his PBBM Podcast video. — Screengrab from Bongbong Marcos/Facebook

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the Philippines needs to keep up with its neighboring countries in terms of digitalization to be able to compete and do business with them.

Marcos said this in Part 3 of the third episode of the PBBM Podcast, titled “Sa Likod ng Sona,” aired on Thursday, where he also renewed the push for using the eGov App in transacting with government offices.

READ: 18 business deals between PH, India signed during Marcos’ state visit

According to the President, manual transactions at physical government offices, which consume time and require much effort, are no longer effective in this day and age.

“It takes three days, because you think your document is finished, they say, ‘Oh, no, there’s still something missing. Go there.’ Then the fixer comes to you. Ay nako, the whole experience, the whole bad experience. So, that cannot – that doesn’t work anymore,” said Marcos.

He added, “And if we are to compete as a country, as an economy, we need to keep up. Look at China, how digitalized China is. We have to be at that level. Look at Singapore, look at Korea.”

Marcos also stressed that digitalization is not only for business but also for education, stressing that “it’s absolutely imperative” for children to know how to use computers and the internet.

“It’s not an option anymore,” he said.

eGov Super App effective?

The President said he was satisfied with how the eGov Super App turned out.

“I made sure that while the code was still being written, my test was always, what I was saying was, you need to simplify, you need to simplify. It needs to be very easy,” he said.

“So, we looked, we did a little study, and there are 89 million Filipino Facebook users. So, I said our app, our eGov app, if you can do Facebook, you can do eGov app,” he continued.

In his recent State of the Nation Address, Marcos gave a spotlight to the eGov Super App as a pillar of his administration’s efforts to bring government services closer to the public.

Meanwhile, Marcos vowed in an event last month that there will be no corruption in any transaction within the eGov Super App and eGovPH Serbisyo Hub.

READ: Marcos launches eGovPH app, Serbisyo Hub to remove fixers, long lines

“My instruction to them: no corruption, no fixers, no long lines. That’s what we’ll gain through the eGovPH app and the one-stop shop we inaugurated today,” Marcos said in Filipino when he delivered his speech during the launch of the eGovPH Serbisyo Hub at the Makabagong San Juan National Government Center in San Juan City. /das