Goodbye kickbacks? Phl to use 'cashless cards' in gov't transactions

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Wednesday launched the Cashless Purchase Card (CPC) program, which enables government agencies to make  financial transactions entirely through electronic means instead of cash or checks.

The DBM said the Cashless Card will function like a corporate credit card, which government employees and offices can use for their procurement needs.

In his speech during the televised launching of the new anti-corruption initiative, President Benigno Aquino III said the government procurement system will now be modernized through the CPC program.

"Cashless purchase cards will be issued to agencies, for low-value payments of a restricted number and type of goods and services. They will resemble ordinary credit cards, but will have additional restrictions more suited to the needs of government," Aquino said.

With the new program, Aquino said government financial transactions should be 100 percent checkless and 80 percent cashless before the end of this year.

The President said the CPC system will help improve the overall fiscal management of government and the thousands of officials who must deal with the needs of their agencies every day.

"So, in the future, a government director in a far-flung province need not go through lengthy processes, if money is needed for minor construction to repair their office," Aquino said. "The cashless purchase cards will allow them to procure the necessary materials immediately—and, given that accounting for transactions is automatically done, suspicious use of the card can be tracked easily."

Aquino added that the CPC system also allows the government to capture and collate the correct data, which redounds to real benefits.

"For one, a bigger sample size of data will allow us to refine our understanding of programs that need funding. It will also make it easier for the Treasury to determine how much cash is needed on a daily basis—giving as an accurate record, which government can use in future decision making," The President said.

The CPC system will be initially implemented across the DBM, the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Aquino said a limited number of cards will be distributed to these agencies, with allowable purchases limited to medical supplies, meals, the transportation of official documents, airline tickets and construction supplies for minor repairs.

The Cashless Card program is a joint effort between the Aquino administration and Citibank.

Response to corruption

During the launching of the program, DBM Sec. Butch Abad said the CPC system is a response to the alleged misuse  of military funds in 2011.

"It purportedly involved billions of pesos in funds supposedly for the hiring of soliders but which were converted to other uses including certain dubious purposes," Abad said.

Abad said through the CPC, expenses for a limited menu of items can now be done fast and liquidation will also become faster.

Budget Undersectary and chief information officer Richard Moya also said  the Cashless Card will make the auditing and accounting process in government financial transactions "much quicker, easier and more transparent."

"The bureaucracy’s dependence on petty cash and checks for various official purchases has unfortunately made many of our financial transactions prone to abuse and corruption. The Cashless Purchase Card will strike at the root of these irregularities by allowing government to enter into transactions through purely electronic means, and within a system that’s updated in real-time, easy to monitor, and completely trackable," Moya said in a release.