PIDS: LGUs with e-Gov generate more revenues

MANILA, Philippines — Local government units (LGUs) that rolled out e-Governance efforts involving fully?automated business permits and licensing systems (BPLS) collected more revenue.

But thin budgets, weak political will and shaky digital infrastructure continue to hold back wider adoption.

According to a study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), BPLS automation is “positively associated” with an increase in business registrations and local business tax, a key source of income for major local governments.

Total local business tax revenue stood at P110.74 billion in 2020 from P66.38 billion in 2016.

PIDS added that e?Governance efforts shrank the room for graft, with automated finance, accounting, budget and treasury systems letting cities track cash balances, streamline collections and route payments directly to LGU bank accounts.

However, only 54 cities or 40 percent of 138 cities had fully automated systems as of 2024.

The think tank also flagged several challenges to the e-Governance efforts of LGUs, including the lack of funds and information and communications technology infrastructure, scarcity of staff with technical expertise and willingness among stakeholders.

Despite gains in digital government platforms, the Department of Information and Communications Technology earlier said it disabled 12 government digital systems because it could not afford to pay for cloud server space.

The study “Relevance of e-Governance in Revenue Generation among Philippine Cities,” was written by Tatum Ramos and Marife Ballesteros.