THE PHILIPPINE government may need to tap the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) for the proposed digitalization of the country’s justice system, which is expected to be funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), according to a special envoy focusing on digital projects.
In a memorandum to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. dated Nov. 13, Dennis Anthony H. Uy, the country’s special envoy to South Korea for digital transformation, said the grant from KOIJICA will not be enough to “fully fund all operations including the maintenance of the systems after project completion.”
“Hence, additional funding may be required from the Export-Import Bank of Korea for the government-to-government projects,” he said. “Assistance from the Department of Finance is thus requested to commence discussions with the counterparts in Korea.”
Mr. Uy said the Philippine government also needs to come up with a five-year roadmap for the proposed digitalization of the Philippine justice system since the South Korean e-justice system effectively took decades to be refined and developed.
Mr. Uy, who is the founder and chief executive officer of Converge ICT Solutions, Inc., also recommended the hiring of a consulting firm to clearly define the requirements to modernize the Philippine Supreme Court.
He stressed the need to clearly understand South Korea’s judicial system and find similarities that may be applied to modernization efforts for the Philippine court system.
“Learning from the Vietnam case study, after completion of the project there should be a minimum of three years of maintenance and consultation to follow in order to ensure the projects are sustainable for the long-term,” he said.
Mr. Uy visited Seoul from Nov. 5 to 9 to get the support of South Korea’s Supreme Court and the Presidential Adviser on Judicial Affairs, among other agencies, for the modernization program of the Philippine Supreme Court. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
