Aboitiz: Oriental Mindoro LGUS go digital

UBX Philippines Corp., the fintech arm of the Aboitiz Group, said on Tuesday it has started the integration of digital services to local government units (LGU) under the province of Oriental Mindoro. John Januszczak, the president of UBX, said the City of Calapan and Municipality of Pola are the first of the LGUS in Oriental Mindoro to implement new digital services—from tax collections, and application processes, to payments.

“Our initial success with Oriental Mindoro’s digital transformation only goes to show how cooperation is key towards achieving financial and social inclusion. We highly encourage the local government leaders from across the archipelago to pursue the same path,” he said.

“By understanding the local context and working with the community, the government, as powered by UBX, can provide financial solutions that help underserved communities in the Philippines.”

The digital transformation initiatives were born out of the multisectoral initiative of UBX called Digital Transformation ng Pilipinas (Digipinas). Through the said initiative, UBX is equipping Oriental Mindoro with open finance technology for payments, disbursements, and loans so it can leverage digital solutions for all government transactions.

“Catering to the needs of its constituents is the number one priority of all local governments. Given the recent events in Oriental Mindoro, our initial steps towards the province’s digital transformation could hopefully alleviate some of its burdens in addressing the disaster,” Digipinas Spokesperson Mikan Leachon said.

UBX has integrated its payments processing unit called BUX into the local capitol, providing its constituents a digital payment system for real property tax.

With the activation of BUX services, taxpayers in the region will have access to an easy, convenient, and secure way to pay their taxes, driving financial inclusion and supporting economic growth in the region.

After its success with the digital system on tax payments, UBX seeks to enable digitization for transactions on utilities such as electricity and water at the Capitol.

Digital loans for businesses and residents, especially those impacted by the oil spill, are also being explored for the benefit of the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMES), such as sari-sari stores, carenderias, and small stalls that rely on loans to sustain their businesses.