Gov't seen to save P30B-P40B a year from eGov integration —DICT

The government is expected to incur about P30 billion to P40 billion in savings every year by integrating and streamlining agencies’ digital systems and cutting out redundant ICT spending, a top official of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said Wednesday.

At the sidelines of the second day of the DICT’s Hackathon in Taguig City, DICT Undersecretary for e-Government David Almirol Jr. told reporters that government agencies requested more than P200 billion for ICT projects in 2025.

“Nung tiningnan namin 'yan, ang daming duplication, ang daming doble-doble, ang daming inuulit... So, if you put [e-governance] to it, ang estimation namin matitipid do'n, aabot ng mga P30 billion to P40 billion ang matitipid natin do'n... That’s per year,” Almirol said.

(When we looked at it, there were a lot of duplications, redundancies… So, if you put e-government to it, our estimated savings could be around P30 billion to P40 billion… That’s per year.)

The move to curb redundant ICT spending is backed by Republic Act No. 12254 or the E-Governance Act, which mandates digital coordination across government agencies.

"Example, human resources. Each government agency may budget ng gumawa ng mga HR payroll. Kanya-kanyang budget 'yan, 'di ba? Hundreds of millions agad 'yan. Eh, pero kung gagawan na lang ng isang sistema na buo na, o, 'di libre nang ipapagamit mo sa iba... That story alone is—can be repeated all throughout government bureaucracy,” Almirol said.

(Take human resources as an example. Each government agency has its own budget to develop its own HR payroll system. That's separate funding for each of them, right? That easily adds up to hundreds of millions right away. But if we just build a single, complete system and let everyone use it for free... That story alone can be repeated all throughout government bureaucracy.)

The DICT official, moreover, said that the ICT Department is planning to redirect at least P100 million in savings to tap local tech startups to further optimize the eGov platform, instead of hiring “expensive” foreign firms.

Almirol said the plan is being tested through the hackathon competition where 137 teams submitted projects.

Top participants will receive a share of P2 million in cash prizes, with plans to formalize working contracts for the top ten teams next year.

The initiative will cover startups across multiple industries, including educational tech, financial tech, agricultural tech, health tech, and local government automation.

"Ang plano namin is to allocate at least P100 million to support our startups... Kasi napansin namin ang daming savings na nangyayari... Instead of engaging foreign entities na ang mamahal, kayang-kaya naman ng Pilipino 'yan, eh. So, 'yun ang plano natin,” Almirol said.

(Our plan is to allocate at least P100 million to support our startups... Because we noticed that a lot of savings are happening... Instead of engaging foreign entities that are so expensive, Filipinos are more than capable of doing it. So, that's our plan.) —VAL, GMA News