DAR unveils online database for legal info

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) launched on Wednesday its Legal Information System Online to allow the public to access the department’s policies and decisions via the Internet.

DAR secretary Gil de los Reyes said more than 12,000 issuances in the form of memorandum orders and circulars have been uploaded in the website, whose advanced features and functionalities make it the first of its kind in the government service.

“This is our way of keeping with the President’s mandate of openness and transparency in our service to the people,” De los Reyes said.

He added that the online service would also serve as a source of information for researches and as an education tool for students and legal researchers so that they would be enlightened on the rationale and principles used in drafting such policies and decisions.

The department did not reveal the cost the project, which was spearheaded by DAR-Legal Affairs Office led by Undersecretary Anthony Parungao in partnership with electronic legal publishing firm CD Technologies Asia (CD Asia).

Among the features of the site are the interactive table of contents, customized search engine and query templates, and links to various administrative issuances, jurisprudence as well as decisions on various agrarian cases.