Last of five parts
BRIEFLY discussed here is how the PowerPI app-facilitated legislative process works (initially during the pilot run at the local level):
1. App administration. For the initial year of the PowerPI project implementation, a designated project lead shall serve as administrator of the app. In collaboration with the secretary of the Sanggunian (who shall replace the project lead as administrator as soon as the latter is able to adequately perform the administrator function), the project lead shall ensure that the app is able to store data, facilitate conversation among users, facilitate prioritization of policy ideas and legislative proposals, etc.
The project lead and secretary shall be supported by the chairpersons of each committee or subcommittee of the Sanggunian in facilitating the discussion of policy ideas or legislative proposals filed by a registered user.
2. Registration of users based on verified Comelec data. All Comelec-registered voters in a barangay can register themselves as app users. The registration process will require identification documents and Comelec credentials without the need for human intervention. However, the administrator can verify the veracity of these credentials.
If the municipality or city to which the barangay belongs is also an adapter of the PowerPI project, the registered user also becomes a registered user of the municipality or city. If the province to which the municipality belongs is also an adapter of the PowerPI project, the registered user also becomes a registered user of the province.
delivered to your inbox
All registered users can associate themselves with stakeholder tags. These tags represent issues or causes with which they may have interest or be associated with. Examples of tags may include environment, mining, public order, livelihood, livelihood training, good governance, funding support, women and gender development, youth, education, culture and development, people participation, human rights, etc. The existing committees or sub-committees of the Sanggunian can likewise be used as tags.
3. Platform for brainstorming, workshops and online meetings. The PowerPI app shall provide meeting rooms for its users to interact with fellow users in the conduct of brainstorming and workshop sessions, among other Technology of Participation methods to generate ideas or development advocacies.
4. Interactive debate and exchange of ideas as a result or product of (i) identification of issues, (ii) prioritization of issues, (iii) identification of solutions through legislative proposals to address the prioritized issue, and (iv) prioritization of legislative proposals.
To manage traffic, policy ideas or legislative proposals shall be categorized in accordance with the committees and sub-committees of the Sanggunian. The app shall make it easy for the proponent to file his/her idea or proposal with the proper categorization. The app administrator shall ensure that the idea or proposal is correctly referred to the corresponding committee or sub-committee of the Sanggunian.
5. Template for transforming favored policy ideas into legislative proposals. To be developed within the app is a recipe for a script that automatically populates the ordinance or resolution template after the proponent of a policy idea or legislative proposal has typed in the required texts or inputs of a simple form.
6. Filtering of most popular policy issues or legislative proposals, to be indicated by the number of "likes," "upvotes," or "approvals" that a policy idea or legislative proposal generates.
The app shall make the referral of prioritized policy ideas or legislative proposals automatic, without the need for administrator intervention. However, the administrator and Sanggunian members shall be on the lookout for "plenary" discussions where the App, for whatever reason, such as bugs or glitches, may have failed to refer to the proper committee or subcommittee.
Facilitation of PI process
– Moderation. The members of local legislative councils (kagawad for barangays, councilors for municipal and city governments, or board members for provincial boards) shall act as admin of the PowerPI app. Their task is to facilitate the exchange of ideas and their prioritization. They shall also oversee the translation of prioritized policy ideas into actionable legislative proposals.
– Consensus building through Policy Delphi. Prioritization of policy ideas, especially when conflicting ends or procedures need to be resolved, shall go through a process of iteration called the Delphi method. The Delphi method shall be facilitated by the barangay secretary or Sangguniang Bayan/Lungsod/Panlalawigan secretary, whichever is applicable.
– Adoption of a legislative proposal by the local legislative council. The PowerPI app shall also apply AI-generated text to automatically convert policy ideas into legislative proposals. The Barangay/Sangguniang Bayan/Lungsod/Panlalawigan secretary shall be responsible for editing, styling and quality assurance of legislative proposals for further deliberation and approval by the local legislative council.
Continue reading with one of these options:
Ad-free access
P 80 per month
(billed annually at P 960)
- Unlimited ad-free access to website articles
- Limited offer: Subscribe today and get digital edition access for free (accessible with up to 3 devices)