BAGUIO CITY – The future issuance of police, health clearances and working permits by the city government will be computerized once the city will take in the proposed digitization of the same.
The computerization of the issuance of police, health clearances and working permit was proposed by Eastland Printing which was given a 6-month experimental period by the previous administration to have its system in place.
However, the dry run did not push through because of issues on how to classify the proposal whether it will be under the solicited or unsolicited mode under the city government’s 2017 public-private partnership (PPP) ordinance.
The proponent re-submitted its proposal to the present administration for possible consideration to make the applications and issuances of such important documents through the internet and in a more convenient manner instead of applicants having to line up in the different issuing offices just to get such documents to meet requirements for business or employment, among other purposes.
Based on the company’s proposal, the proposed system, including the hardware, software, other needed units of equipment and personnel, will be provided by the project proponent with the system catering to online application, electronic verification, data verification, data printing and reports and analytics which will be user-friendly to the public.
Under the said proposal, the city government can still collect the prescribed fees for the police, health clearances and working permits while the company will be allowed to collective the so-called conveyance fee subject to negotiations by both parties.
Eastland claimed the computerization of the issuance of such important documents will be much cheaper to the applicants because they can reprint the same with their photos if they need original copies to support their requirements.
The multiple printing of the said documents will only be allowed by the system up to the validity date of the clearances and permits.
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong directed the proponent to present the matter to the officials of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) to ensure it will not run counter to the government’s national identification system which will be rolled out starting next year.
The company already rolled out the proposed system in other highly urbanized cities in the country where it was proven that the same is far more convenient to applicants for the issuance of such documents because they can print out the said documents anytime wherever they are in the country provided they have access to the internet.
The City Health Services Office already expressed its initial support to the implementation of the computerization of the issuance of the health clearance from their office considering the convenience this brings to the clients of the city government.
By Dexter A. See
