President Aquino says Cashless Purchase Card
program addresses corruption
President Benigno S. Aquino III said on
Wednesday that the newly-launched administration’s Cashless Purchase Card (CPC)
program will address the alleged misuses of funds in the government.
"Our goal is to institutionalize reforms
that make it very difficult for unscrupulous individuals to steal from the
people—regardless of who sits in office. This is where the introduction of
cashless transactions comes in," the Chief Executive said in his speech
during the Good Governance Summit held at the Philippine International
Convention Center, CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City.
President Aquino led the ceremonial turnover of
the Cashless Purchase Card during the 3-day summit which has for its theme
"Good Governance through Open Government and Sustainable Procurement."
The program, which is a joint effort between the
Aquino administration and Citibank, enables the government agencies to make
financial transactions entirely through electronic means instead of cash or
checks.
"A recent study identified that one of the
major financial risks remaining is the high volume of cash advances in
agencies. The risks of this kind of system are obvious: the presence of large
sums of cash in offices can pose a temptation to even the most honest
employee—not to mention those who would willingly take advantage of such a
situation," President Aquino said.
"It is only appropriate that we celebrate
the 10th anniversary of the Procurement Reform Act by introducing a mechanism
that modernizes government procurement: the launch of the Cashless Purchase
Card or CPC Program. Cashless purchase cards will be issued to agencies, for
low-value payments of a restricted number and type of goods and services,"
the President said.
The turnover ceremony signaled the launch of the
pilot phase of the Cashless Purchase Card system, which will be implemented in
the three agencies, namely the Department of Budget and Management, the
Department of National Defense, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
"We are far from being a cashless society:
98 percent of all retail financial transactions in our country are still made
in cash. The government seems to be ahead of the market, with 54 percent of its
financial transactions already done through a cashless system. And, for the
sake of accountability and efficiency, we are pushing the envelope
further," the President stressed.
The President said the cashless card will
resemble ordinary credit cards, but will have additional restrictions more
suited to the needs of government.
Through the Cashless Purchase Cards and other
similar reforms, the President said the government financial transactions
should be 100 percent checkless and 80 percent cashless before the end of this
year.
"The cashless purchase cards will allow
them to procure the necessary materials immediately—and, given that accounting
for transactions is automatically done, suspicious use of the card can be
tracked easily. On top of that, this system also allows us to capture and
collate the correct data, which redounds to real benefits," he said. PND
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President Aquino says Open Data portal will be
available to public starting tomorrow
President Benigno S. Aquino III on Wednesday
announced the government to launch “Open Data Philippines,” a website that will
serve as a portal for national government data made accessible to the public.
During his speech at the Good Governance Summit
held in Pasay City, President Aquino said the Open Data Philippines is one of the
latest reforms being implemented by his administration in instituting good
governance.
The website, which can be accessed through
www.data.go.ph, will be made available to the public starting Thursday (January
16).
“We will be unveiling a platform that will
collate all relevant government data, not only for use in governance, but also
for the information and use of the wider public: Open Data Philippines, will be
accessible through www.data.gov.ph beginning tomorrow,” he said.
“Open Data Philippines is a website for publicly
available, up-to-date national data—from the total enrollment in public
secondary schools over a certain period of time, to the aforementioned budget
and procurement data and everything in between,” he added.
President Aquino said the national open data
website will not only serve as a repository for national government data made
accessible to the public, it will also use reader-friendly visualizations to
make statistics understandable, he noted.
“None of us should make the mistake of thinking
that Open Data Philippines stops at being a repository of data. Its very name
says otherwise. Opening data is about making statistics understandable, through
the use of reader-friendly visualizations,” he said.
“The more technologically savvy among our
countrymen can also make use of available data to participate and create their
own visualizations and applications for the use of others,” he added.
The President cited some of the applications
included in the website, such as a tool that will help residents of Metro
Manila plan their daily commutes, as well as other applications to make
government expenditures more accessible.
“Ultimately, opening data is more than just
making columns and rows of figures available for viewing; it is about empowering
the people through information,” the President said during the summit.
President Aquino said the website will also help
government further improve its programs and policies.
“Open Data is a step towards having all
information at our fingertips—which we can use to better assess, improve, and
even develop programs and policies,” he said.
President Aquino addressed Wednesday morning the
Good Governance Summit held at the Philippine International Convention Center
(PICC) in Pasay City. It had for its theme “Good Governance through Open
Government and Sustainable Procurement.”
The three-day event, organized by the Department
of Budget and Management in partnership with the Presidential Communications
Development and Strategic Planning Office, was a gathering of the country’s key
stakeholders in good governance and transformational leadership, including
development partners, Open Data experts and public procurement practitioners.
Some of the highlights in the summit included
the presentation of Good Governance Initiatives for 2013-2016; the official
launch of Open Data Philippines; and a celebration of procurement reform in the
Philippines. PND (co)
Palace elated over Sandiganbayan’s forfeiture of
Marcoses jewel collection in favor of government
Malacanang said it was happy about the recent
decision by the Sandiganbayan declaring the Malacanang jewel collection of the
Marcoses as ill-gotten but added that it’s too early to decide whether to
auction the precious items.
“We are happy that the Supreme Court issued that
decision but as to whether what further actions we will take will now depend on
the Right of Appeal of the Marcos family,” Presidential spokesperson Edwin
Lacierda said in a press briefing in Malacanang on Wednesday.
“It is not final and executory. Until such time
that it becomes final and executory in favor of the Republic, that’s the only
time that we will make a decision,” he added.
The decision is still subject to appeal and the
government does not know at this time if the Marcos family is going to appeal
it, he said.
The Sandiganbayan has forfeited in favor of the
government the jewelry collections called the Malacanang Collection, one of the
three gem collections of Imelda Marcos.
The jewelries were recovered in Malacanang
shortly after the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos fled to Hawaii in 1986.
The Malacanang Collection is the smallest
collection compared to the Roumeliotes and Hawaii Collections of the Marcoses.
The pieces of jewelries were estimated to be worth $110,055 and $153,089 based
in a 1991 appraisal.
The Roumeliotes Collection is composed of
several pieces of extravagant jewelry and gemstones.
The Hawaii Collection, on the other hand, is a
set of jewelries confiscated by American authorities from the Marcoses when
they arrived in Honolulu after fleeing the country at the height of the EDSA
People Power Revolution. PND (as)
Malacanang congratulates Rose Fostanes for
winning the first 'X-Factor Israel'
The Aquino government extended its
congratulation to Filipina immigrant worker Rose “Osang” Fostanes who won the
first “X Factor Israel” talent show, a Palace official said.
“The Filipino has an innate talent … has an
innate advantage when it comes to the arts, not only singing,” Presidential
Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said during the regular press briefing in
Malacanang on Wednesday.
The 47-year-old Fostanes performed Frank
Sinatra’s classic “My Way” with an orchestra. The audience and the judges gave
her a standing ovation during the performance.
Her mentor Shiri Maimon was so happy when
Fostanes was declared as winner.
The X Factor Israel grand finals was held 9PM on
Tuesday (January 14, Israel) at the Nokia Arena Tel Aviv in Israel.
“We are very, very proud that she has again
given the Philippines pride in showcasing her talent; and now, not only the
world knows that we are good, not only in the States, but everywhere that you
ask a Filipino to perform” Lacierda said.
“And we would like to congratulate Rose for her
victory. It's also a victory for the Filipino people,” he said. PND (js)
