Based on the current draft of a law creating the DICT, nobody is, according to Cynthia Mamon, outgoing president of the Information Technology Association of the Philippines and president and managing director of Sun Microsystems Philippines (SunPhil). "The [House Bill 3218] does not speak about accountability on the use of the e-government fund. It only talks about provisioning it," the outspoken IT executive told INQ7.net in reaction to Wednesday's initial public hearings on the proposed DICT.
Mamon, who worked in government prior to becoming the top executive of SunPhil, said the lack of an accountability provision in the proposed law puts the e-government fund at risk of being wasted because of graft and corruption.
"Someone has to be accountable," she stressed. "I challenge [the bill's proponents] to tackle this issue because I believe nobody wants to touch it."
Section 13 of the Department of Information and Communications Technology Act of 2005, states that "there shall be an e-government fund created specifically for funding government ICT projects."
The e-government fund will be used to support projects that will allow government to conduct electronic transactions, and develop innovative uses of ICT for e-governance, the draft measure indicates.
For national government agencies, the e-government fund will be sourced from two percent of their "non-personal services" allocation every year.
"There have always been inconsistencies in the way government bids are done in the country. One agency can be so strict, following the law to the letter, while others are not. In most cases, each government agency is responsible for the conduct of their own bids," Mamon said.
During Wednesday's public hearing on the proposed DICT, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it has disbursed 3.7 billion pesos for "e-government" projects in 2004.
"For 2005, we have allocated around one billion for the e-government fund," said Ricalinda Adriatico, director IV of the budget and management bureau-A of the DBM.
DBM institutionalized the e-government fund in 2003.
More than four billion pesos were allocated that year for the special fund, sourced from two percent of the capital expenses, maintenance, and other operating expenses budget of each government agency's for e-government projects.
Most of the allocation that year went towards the modernization of the country’s electoral system.
Autor: Erwin Lemuel Oliva
Quelle: INQ7.net, 23.01.2005
