Hon. Mayor Noel E. Rosal, together with other City Officials and Department Heads, personally received the awards at PICC on November 26, 2019. Best in eGOV Digital Finance Empowerment (G2P) Award honors LGUs’ endeavors to promote e-commerce or e-payment facilities and systems aimed at ensuring effective revenue generation and collection, improving over-all financial management, and providing convenience to the public. It is an avenue towards acknowledging the vital role of Local Government Units (LGUs) in establishing a Digital Philippines.

The Digital Government Award (DGA) is an annual event recognizing LGUs’ best practices in utilizing ICT for the effective and efficient delivery of public services to local communities and to business stakeholders. It is a joint project of the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP). 

“Innovation at the grassroots level is a fundamental step in building a digital nation. Your sensitivity to the needs of your local community places you in a special position to usher in and drive robust and innovative solutions for the digital transformation of your community, from the way you engage the public to delivering business objectives and empowering your constituents through ICT,” DICT Undersecretary for Legal Affairs, Policy, Planning & Finance Jose Arturo De Castro said to the participating LGUs.

“This (DGA) is part and parcel of our initiatives to foster modernization in the way local governments handle business development, community development and social services. We aim to make government more responsive and integrated by applying digital technologies to improve key domains such as transportation, communications, business, labor, and security, among others,” DICT Assistant Secretary for Digital Philippines Emmanuel Rey Caintic added.

The Legazpi City Online Payment Portal for Real Property and Business Taxes is a concrete proof of the Legazpi City government living up to its reputation as a business-friendly component city. It provides another secure, convenient and practical option for taxpayers to settle their fees and taxes annually and quarterly. By adopting cloud  technology,  physical presence of taxpayers is no longer required, thereby encouraging fast, efficient, and timely payment especially to taxpayers residing  outside the locality or the Philippines. It is anchored on Republic Act No. 8792 or the e-Commerce Act of 2000, which paved the way for the use of electronic governance in the government and general public.

It adopts a public-private partnership strategy- a private sector company manages the functionality of the portal and works with the partner banks at zero cost to the city government. Except for internet connection, maintaining costs for the portal is derived from minimal transaction fees, adding to portal operation sustainability. The portal started accepting payments on October 25, 2018 and was established through the technical assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its E-PESO and SURGE Projects. The portal is managed by Rameses, Inc. and links the city treasurer’s office with two banks-Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and Landbank of the Philippines (LBP).

The City official website  https://legazpi.gov.ph/online-services/ serves as the backbone for the electronic payment services of the city government wherein the following services could be availed of: (a) online generation of real property tax and business permit, statement of accounts, and (b) online payment of realty and business taxes and fees using credit and/or debit cards.

The project was designed to decongest city hall by providing alternative options for taxpayers to settle their taxes and fees, particularly highlighting the highest transaction traffic: real property and renewal of business permit. This arrangement benefits taxpayers that are both residing in and outside of Legazpi city. A cost benefit analysis proved that the adoption of online payment reduces the overall expenses incurred by taxpayers such as reduction of transportation, accommodation and meals expenditures. The system eliminates carbon footprint and opportunity cost incurred by paying taxes in person as the arrangement allows for taxpayers to use the time spent for other productive activities. Taxpayers are not inconvenienced by the hot weather and pollution they have to endure going to city hall. Finally, the system is transparent as taxpayers are able to see the full and exact amount payable. The online payment portal is also more efficient and effective for the city government because payments could be done 24/7 and does not require a cashier available during this period. Official receipts are generated electronically and sent to taxpayers to confirm their payments. Legazpi City is the first local government unit in the Bicol region that implemented the online payment system to establish the principles of good governance, transparency and operational efficiency at a systemic level.

The Process-ICT-Policy (PIP) Nexus was utilized as the major framework to streamline the online payment processes in the local government.  The ICT as the heart of the framework, was supported simultaneously by the improvement of the processes and reinforcement of policies and regulations to produce efficiency and effectiveness, as well as transparency and customer satisfaction.  The project sees to it that all stakeholders are fully informed of the processes.  This is clearly manifested in the process flow posted at the business center and in conspicuous areas where the public is informed of the step-by-step procedure. Likewise, the complete steps are published on the City website (https://legazpi.gov.ph/online services/process flow) for information of the taxpayers and general public.