Lanao del Norte SP Council holds first paperless session
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SP Board Member Mohammad Moamar
Jack Maruhom delivers his speech
in front of the Lanao del Norte legislative
body during its first paperless session.
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The provincial lawmaking body is currently using the Paperless Session Information System for its regular weekly sessions. Through this new software, SP personnel are no longer required to print hundreds of pages for each provincial board member prior to every session. Information is now simply uploaded to the system for each SP member to readily access it.
The paperless session is an initiative of Vice-Governor Maria Cristina Atay to modernize the legislative process in the Lanao del Norte provincial government.
“With the paperless session, it will make our Sanggunian Panlalawigan more efficient in doing our legislative function and enable us to become more responsive to the needs of our people. In addition, we can also help in preserving our environment since we will now be using less paper products”, explained Vice-Governor Atay.
The computer-aided session is adopted from the system used by the provincial government of Agusan del Sur. Lanao del Norte SP personnel recently visited the Agusan del Sur provincial government in Plaza Government Center, Prosperidad town, Agusan del Sur for a Benchmarking activity to learn of their best practices for possible adaption in its own legislative body.
Prior to its holding of the first paperless session, Lanao del Norte SP personnel together with provincial board members were trained and familiarized with the Paperless Session Information System by a team of I.T. experts from Agusan del Sur LGU.
In support of the new system, Sangguniang Panlalawigan members were provided with new Acer laptops, printers, and other electronic gadgets for use during regular sessions.
With the paperless session, Local Legislative Staff (LLS) simply upload committee reports, minutes of the meeting, and journals to the system thereby saving additional expenses on ink cartridges, bond papers, folders and other materials.
Municipalities can now also submit soft copies of their annual budgets, ordinances and other supporting documents further lessening the expenses on office supplies as well as the negative impact on environment.
For his part, Governor Khalid Dimaporo is elated with the latest technology upgrade implemented by the Sanggunian Panlalawigan. Governor Dimaporo has consistently expressed his support to the Sangguinian Panlalawigan particularly in providing logistical support and training to members and staff of the provincial legislative council. VNL & SP/PGLDN
