Philippines lowers service costs through digital push

DICT links digitalisation to governance continuity and efficiency.

The Philippines is stepping up digitalisation efforts to future-proof governance, cut service costs and improve competitiveness, with reforms aimed at sustaining impact beyond political cycles.

Speaking at GovMedia Summit 2026, Henry R. Aguda, Secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), said governance must be anchored on systems that endure. “Future Proof governance means sustainable innovation, which means you need to have people, technology and the systems so that it doesn't change every political cycle,” he said. “Once you implement it now, it will carry over multiple administrations from that.”

At the core of this strategy is the digitisation of government transactions, which Aguda said offers the biggest opportunity to create public value. “So as you digitise transactions, it should cut transaction cost because they claim it will be 600 times the comparison,” he said. “So for every six pesos of an analog transaction, you cut it down to just one peso in terms of efficiency.”

Lower costs could significantly improve access to services and reduce the burden on both citizens and the state. “Because the more you digitise, it lowers down the cost of providing service to the Filipinos,” Aguda added.

The government is already seeing early gains from its push to digitise public services, which includes expanding online platforms and streamlining processes. Aguda said maintaining momentum will be key to sustaining competitiveness. “Let's continue with digitalisation,” he said.
“So the President's mandate to digitalise the whole government services, I think, is the right approach, and we're already seeing gains in that area.”

Aguda said continued implementation will raise service standards nationwide. “So by just continuing it, we'll see a different level of service to the people altogether.”