Closing Remarks

Hon. Roberto B. Tan

Treasurer of the Philippines,
Bureau of the Treasury

Distinguished guests, my fellow public servants, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon!

Now that this activity has come to a close, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to everyone for taking time and efforts attend this roadshow.  It is my firm belief that after you have listened this morning to the message of our Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker (Hon. Sigfrido R. Tinga) and the informative presentations of our invited distinguished speakers, you are now geared up into planning and implementing your agency’s Electronic Payment and Collection System (EPCS) project. 

But before you leave, allow me to reflect on the purpose of this roadshow and share with you some thoughts on our responsibility as leaders of our agencies.

The activity’s theme: Moving Forward with Electronic Payment and Collection for Good Governance - is quite timely as our government has put in the pipeline a range of projects in the fiscal and infrastructure sector aimed at promoting Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for economic development.  Your agency’s EPCS project surely fits the PPP concept.

I am pleased to inform you that our economy has remained robust and buoyant despite the financial crisis that affected some countries outside and within the Asian region.  We can credit this ‘stability’ to the active support of our citizens and private businesses in a wide range of government initiatives and from the coordinated efforts of government agencies in improving their collection efforts as well as reducing, if not eliminating, the incidence of graft and corruption in the workplace through the efficient use of government resources.

The growth of our economy needs the continued dynamism of our public servants in looking for better ways and means to improve the government’s tax and revenue collection efficiency. Thus, I say the theme of this roadshow is timely as the use of the various modes of electronic payment and collection system, for our agency’s fees, charges and other revenues that is required by law for remittance to the National Treasury, will be a concrete step into the government fulfilling its role as an economic partner and facilitator to bring about a healthy economic environment that balances public and private interests.

The advent of automation, integration, global markets and products of the 21st century requires the government to adapt in a faster manner to react to this universal shift. Our clients may not necessarily be inside the country when they want to transact business with the government, say for renewal of license.  Our clients may be abroad and wants an online service from the government where the client can apply and pay for the renewal of a license.   Providing our clients with an additional window to transact with the government will undoubtedly enhance government services and revenues. However, providing online government services will not suffice.  It is important that our online government services particularly on the payment and collection of fees, charges and other revenues assures our clients that it is Reliable, Efficient, Secure, and Timely (or REST). Kung bagá, our clients are “REST” assured that the government will prudently utilize all such financial resources for the benefit of the general welfare.

An internet article written by André Vallerand

is relevant in terms of emphasizing the responsibility of the government in the strategic use of electronic commerce technologies in the delivery of public services and I quote: “The strategic integration of electronic commerce technologies generally provides higher quality information, while improving speed, accuracy, flexibility, responsiveness, and cost savings. The technologies that will have the greatest impact in the government sector are already here, but it is the integration and synergy between these computer, telecommunications communications technologies and networking that will bring the greatest benefits. The digitizing, networking and processing of information will have profound impact on government's administration and services to the public. Governments that take a lead role in adopting these technologies stand a better chance of improving the quality of their services to the public by decreasing, in permanent manner, the cost-related dimension. Obviously, governments have a clear role to play in facilitating these changes and making government's applications a strategic component in view of developing a national expertise of IT that could be transferred internationally.”  I believe we all agree with Vallerand that for our government to succeed in its undertakings using information technology it should serve as a catalyst to the private sector by putting in place an environment that is conducive for businesses to expand and for the taxpayers to faithfully share their hard-earned income in the development of our country.

It should be emphasized though that adopting an Electronic Payment and Collection System (EPCS) for your agency to service the ever changing needs of your clients requires a careful study on your part.  This study should take into consideration factors such as your agency’s current IT system, personnel capacity or competence, the cost and benefits of internal development vis-a-vis outsourcing an EPCS project, and project sustainability.  Moreover, an EPCS project will be sustainable only if your agency has funds, which may be internal funds or appropriation (GAA) or those granted under the E-Government Fund.  Finally, taking cue from our theme it is important to stress that good governance requires that the implementation of an EPCS project be a twin and symbiotic responsibility of your agency’s top management and end-user units, a sort of legacy project owned by the agency itself regardless of any change in our leaders.

We look forward to your initiatives to improve our government collection and for your agency to implement an EPCS.

Congratulations to GEPCSET for the successful conduct of this roadshow.

Thank you very much.