THE House of Representatives on Tuesday night unanimously adopted House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) No. 10 to establish and maintain an integrated and secure digital legislative management system for Congress, to be known as eCongress, to improve services to the public.
Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Majority Leader Manuel Jose “Mannix” M. Dalipe, Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Alexander A. Marcos, Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan, and Representatives Yedda Marie K. Romualdez and Jude Acidre of Tingog party-list authored the resolution.
The measure states that a bicameral Congress requires close and constant collaboration, coordination, communication, and sharing of knowledge resources and information by and between both chambers.
“The Senate and the House of Representatives are cognizant of the need to continuously improve, strengthen and streamline communications between houses to enable them, singly and jointly, to efficiently and effectively perform Congress’ essential functions of representation, legislation and oversight,” the authors said.
They said advances in technology and greater connectivity present opportunities for the two houses to update their intra- and inter-chamber processes by adopting and using secure digital systems and infrastructure and online platforms to further strengthen coordination and facilitate citizen engagement in the legislative process.
“To enhance digital collaboration, communication and connectivity between both houses, and to improve their services to the people, the Senate and the House of Representatives agree and commit to undertake concerted efforts in the development of an updated digital, integrated and secure legislative management system,” according to the resolution.
Such a system could provide timely, more effective and responsive ways of managing, monitoring and reporting the legislative performance of Congress, it stated.
The amount needed for setting up and maintaining the proposed eCongress would be charged against current appropriations of the House and the Senate.
Future funding requirements would be included in the annual national budget.
The Senate secretary and the House secretary general would be authorized to jointly oversee and administer the proposed eCongress and to form a joint technical working group from members of the secretariats of the two chambers.
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