(Eagle News)–The Bureau of Internal Revenue has asked the Department of Information and Communications Technology to explain why the BIR continues to experience “erratic network connections in all its systems and electronic services in August this year” despite the supposed interventions made by the DICT.
In a letter to DICT Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr., BIR Deputy Commissioner Lanee Cui-David asked the agency to provide an update on the measures it has taken so far to resolve the “bureau’s intermittent network connection as well as the long-term solution it is doing to support the BIR’s complex requirements ‘on Data Center (DC) hosting and provisioning.’
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III was furnished a copy of the letter, which was also addressed to DICT Undersecretaries Denis Villorente, who is in charge of Development and Innovation; and Monchito Ibrahim, who handles Management and Operations; and Jennifer Pacatang of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
The BIR said it “experienced erratic network connection affecting all its systems and e-Services last Aug. 10, at the height of the DICT’s work on the hardware provisioning, facility preparations and network reconfiguration to restore and back up the bureau’s Electronic Tax Information System (eTIS) following a hardware meltdown last July.”
The eTIS is a web-based internal BIR platform covering taxpayer registration systems; returns filing and processing; collection, remittance and reconciliation; audit; case management system; taxpayer accounts system; batch architecture module; and system administration management.
Cui-David said the “intermittent DICT network connectivity also severely delayed efforts to transfer the eTIS backup data and files from the Department’s DC in Quezon City to another one in Makati City last August.”
“Said network connection only stabilized last August 30, 2018. However, note that eTIS file restoration has not been completed as of date,” said Cui-David, who is in charge of the BIR’s Information Systems Group.
In her letter, Cui-David reminded Rio that “we have repeatedly communicated the urgency for DICT to speed up the process of strengthening and enhancing the iGovPhil DC/s, as envisioned under Executive Order No. 47,” which paved the way for the implementation of iGovPhil (Integrated Government Philippines Program).
“Therefore, may we be apprised on what DICT has undertaken so far to address recurring iGov DC co-location problems of BIR and in the long-term, how to fully and effectively support the complex BIR requirements on DC hosting and provisioning,” Cui-David said.
