Historic First: SP Olongapo Unveils Country’s First SangguniAPP
The Sangguniang Panlungsod of Olongapo made history on January 28, 2026 through the official launching of the SangguniAPP, a mobile and web application with AI integration. Designed to harmonize legislation and people participation, the app unveiling was held at the SMX Convention Center.
The event was attended by the Sangguniang Panlungsod members, department heads, and barangay officials. Also in attendance were key legislative organizations including the Zambales Chapter of the Philippine Councilors League (PCL), the National Movement of Young Legislators (NMYL), and the Philippine League of Secretaries to the Sanggunian, Inc. (PLEASES, Inc.), alongside civil society organizations and local media.
City Councilor Benjamin Cajudo II, Committee Chairperson on Telecommunications, Information Technology, Public Information, and Media Affairs, delivered the welcome remarks and congratulated the City Vice Mayor and the Members of the Sanggunian for this significant milestone. Likewise, City Mayor Rolen C. Paulino, Jr., in a video message, lauded the Sanggunian and the City Vice Mayor for overseeing the project, noting its vital role in promoting transparency within the local government.
Spearheading the innovation, City Vice Mayor Kaye Ann S. Legaspi led the unveiling of the SangguniApp—the first of its kind in the country. She emphasized the role of digital innovation in strengthening transparency, accessibility, and responsiveness of the Sanggunian, as well as people participation in local governance. The SangguniAPP, she added, is developed to cater to Olongapo City residents, aside from the barangays, Sanggunian Members and staff.
SangguniAPP developer Mr. Ross, on the other hand, presented the functional features and technical components of the application, both for the end users and the administrators.
During the open forum, the developer and the City Vice Mayor answered queries from the event attendees. Matters on the enhancement of the application features, such as voice activation for accessibility of persons with disabilities and easy read mode for senior citizens were discussed, as well as concerns on bandwidth for the usage of the application. It was also announced during the event that a tablet computer will soon be installed outside the Vice Mayor’s Office for easy access of clients and constituents.
As for the neutrality of the SangguniAPP, the City Vice Mayor assured that the application represents the Sanggunian as an institution. On the technical side, the developers explained that artificial intelligence will be the neutral entity of the application. In terms of user privacy and security, they guaranteed that information storage will follow the standard data protection procedures.
The City Vice Mayor also clarified that no government funds were utilized in the development of the SangguniAPP, and that once completed, it will be donated to the Sangguniang Panlungsod. Mr. Fernando Erese, Jr. of DILG-Olongapo recommended the institutionalization of the application through a Sanggunian legislation, potentially serving as a benchmark for other local sanggunians.
The SangguniAPP is currently accessible via gapo.app on the web, and will soon be available for download on iOS and Android platforms.
