Fuel Rationing. Is this the right solution?

Early this morning fuel prices again have risen to new record highs. I'm taking the public transport to help ease in my own small way the inefficient way of consuming fuel by going to the office alone inside my car. I normally drive alone simply because like any other household people will always have have different destinations and work schedules. The Department of Energy is planning of issuing cards to ration fuel consumption at the same time monitor it to be able to better assess the current fuel consumption of the motoring public.

In my opinion I find this too short-termed. You can't just keep to rationing when there is a price surge or when there is a shortage. You can not just simply keep on collecting data. You have to find real solutions to real problems. As everybody knows fuel can be transformed into energy and this energy is what sustains economic security and social stability. National governments should find specific and attainable solutions to this fuel crises that is being felt everywhere. Alternative fuel sources are abundant it is just that we can not keep a blind eye to this. We need to tap these sources. We need to revamp laws that oppose to the development and usage of these.

We need to create an infrastructure of an effective and efficient mass transportation system to carry people and goods to places where it is needed and wanted. Of course there are no.straight and simple solutions to that but we have to try. We have to manage and balance everything putting with the utmost importance the protection of the environment we live in because this is the only home we have. We need to show future generations and educate them what is right if we are to survive as people living on this planet. We need change.

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Budgets Cebu City LGU Style

The past few weeks has been nothing but series of meetings and presentations. The year is ending and it's budget season once more. The normal way of doing it is plan everything out for next year be it Capital Outlay, Maintenance Expenses and Personal Expenses of course and then include everything you need in next years budget in an Annual Investment Plan.

Since I joined the organization this has not happened yet. Their way of doing it is "skin and bones" budget and then just ask for additional budget in a Supplemental Budget (SB). But before a SB can happen, the City Treasurer has to certify if there is enough surplus to fund the SB of which the Budget Officer will also concurring. If there isn't enough then the other option is go into borrowings.

This year we are already on SB 5 (meaning we are already on our fifth supplemental budget for the year), the biggest ever in the history of the Cebu City. Question still left unanswered is, "Is there enough sources of funds?". Only the treasurer can answer that with the City Accountant will concur by generating financial statements.

But what is more intriguing about this SB is that the largest items in this budget are all ICT related and of which I had not been consulted, ever! This has caught the attention of a lot of the people from the different departments and offices of City Hall. Why? Because all of the budgeted items do not have a breakdown and no clear explanation of how it will be used. City councilors suddenly are questioning the motives of items and that why my department was never consulted in the first place. Then the woman behind it all emerged. It was one of the department managers. She was the culprit behind all of this. Was it Illegal, Unnecessary, Excessive, Extravagant, Unconscionable (IUEEU)?

Final decision? Budgets were cut, some items deleted and control of the technical description of the budgets given back to the department's control.

Lastly, I would like to thank all of the people behind me and who made this possible. She could have gotten away with it. By the grace of god she didn't

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Mandate, mandate, mandate...

What so important about it? Well everything... We're one of the very few Local Government Units (LGU) who have a permanent department for IT with permanent plantillas. Meaning we get to keep our position even when a new set of government official takes there place in our city.

Sustainability is challenging enough at the National Government level and more challening on a local government unit. You see, most of the people working for the LGU have some ties with who sitting on the city council, mayor or vice mayor.

When I started working for Government 5 years ago, the first thing I did was to map out peoples relation to certain people and I had the shock of my life. I have brothers, sisters, husband and wives, cousins, sons and daugthers and worst of all people who had relations with certain officials (you know what I mean). :-)

So how did I do it? Slowly I mapped out a road map on how to deal with these people relationships and be able to pierce through them. Last month, I got the chance to let go five of them. In total as of today, I have gotten rid of 15 or more people already and I not afraid to let go of more for the sake of a flatter and leaner organization. Life is tough when you are working in an environment like this indeed... :-)

Aside from this internal force, you have to keep watch of external forces. Other department heads who manipulate and deceive officials on getting into projects that are ICT related but was never channeled or coordinated with the department. Well guess what, I slap the other department with a copy of the department's mandate and with that, we were able to tame them. I'm expecting more of this exercise but all I can do to protect the interest of the people is this piece of paper in my hands, the department's ordinance. That should be enough to remind them also that the citizen of Cebu City will be up in their armpits when they violate this...:-)

On ICT Initiatives on Government

They say "You can bring the horse to the water but you can never force it to drink". I say,"Bring the horse to the water anyway. Sooner or later it will get thirsty and it will drink"... ;-) If they don't like your initiatives, just take the lead and make it really good. Sooner or later they will see your effort and see it is good and then eventually will join the ban... ;-)

Politics and e-Governance...

I guess everyone know the lyrics by Billy Joel the song "Honesty". One line goes something like, "Honesty is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue. ". I guess I'm just too naive about so many things in this world and that I have to start realizing that Billy Joel is right and that you can never trust anyone but yourself not even the people closest to you (no, not even your dog...LOL).

Funny, I've been in the government for 5 years and I still have yet to learn that trolls and witches exist and that they are real, flesh and blood. That everyone has its own agenda and that I have to trust only my instinct and gut feeling. Trust no one. I should put that in my head.

Even your connections and relationships you shouldn't rely on. If you do, you committed the biggest mistake. You will realize that suddenly you're all alone. Never rely on promises, and words like "I will do something about it" or "Don't worry, we will find a way!". Keyword "we" is actually equivalent to "you" or "good luck".

In a few minutes, I will be in a budget hearing that will come into terms of whether it will make things happen or it will break me (alone with no one but myself). I can't do anything for now but watch on the sideline as the Titans battle it out with the trolls and witches.

Wish me luck... ;-)

ICT4D...

Another round table discussion of that is happening to this country's ICT initiatives. The meeting lasted for 4 hours. I don't know if the insight I gave would be included in the paper these guys are supposed to present in the national council. I've said my piece and it's all up to them to get it through the lines of congress and through the legislators in the upper house to decide on what direction to take.

ICT initiatives on a national level is a long fought battle and still being fought worst on the grounds of a Local Government Unit (LGU) who by the way gather and interact with the people and get information from the grassroots of society. Issues like standardization of data, metadata still has a long way to go. National Government Agencies pushing systems left and right with no intention of regulating and integrating these is making life in the LGU worst.

I just hope they run out of bullets first to fire at LGUs who tries to evade the consequences of bad ICT initiatives and implementation which will then go to the archives of horror stories of which the victims are the LGUs.

IT in Governance

It's a lazy Saturday and I just woke up with a massive migraine this morning and yeah that really started the day wrong. I went on with my daily routine and then drove back home and slept the entire morning.

Got up around a little past 1pm and still my head is spinning. Drank two tabs of Tylenol and then played my online game (Ogame). Yeah, thanks to Tylenol I feel better. :-)

Anyway, in my previous post, I mentioned about what my occupation is and what this blog is supposed to be about. Yes, I.T. and yes anything that has computers on it is under my job description. (As what most of the department head in the organization would think).

I've been very busy lately and there are currently over 20 major project being worked out by the department. Here is a short list of major projects being undertaken:

1. General Collection System
2. Re-engineering of the existing Business Permit Renewal System
3. Re-engineering of the existing Real Property Tax System
4. Electronic New Government Accounting System
5. Online Taxpayers Portal
6. Online Payment System
7. Human Resources Information System
8. Network Upgrade and Redundancy
9. Orthophoto
10. Treasury Operations Management System

The challenges faced in the implementation of new systems or improvement of existing systems could vary from simple changes in the political climate, budgetary constraints or end-user indifference. I'll discuss some of these projects in details next time.

That's IT for me for now.