MALACAñANG said some government agencies, particularly the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Finance, have begun to implement measures meant to cut red tape and improve the delivery of services to the public.
Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the matter was discussed during the Cabinet meeting last Monday and Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, who used to head a private institute for entrepreneurship, has committed to cut business registration processes to three days.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, on the other hand, appointed an “anti-red tape czar” at the DoF to oversee efforts to hasten transactions in the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs.
Dominguez appointed one of the most respected career officials in the DoF, Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran, as the department’s “anti-red tape czar.”
“His role will be to dramatically reduce the number of steps and documentary requirements in transacting business with the DoF and all attached bureaus,” Dominguez said in a statement.
“This will include paying taxes, getting tax refunds, acquiring tax exemption certificates, getting imports released, shipping out exports, registering a business and getting appointments with public officials,” he added.
Prior to his new appointment, Beltran was the DoF’s chief economist with extensive experience in the country’s dealings with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Last year, the World Bank ranked the Philippines a low 95th among 189 economies in the field of overall ease of doing business.
Reelected Senator Ralph Recto lauded Beltran’s appointment and suggested that the move be imitated by other government agencies.
“The first thing that this official should do is conduct an inventory of rules and then install benchmarks to be followed,” Recto said, urging the adoption of a “singular national timetable” for all government transactions.
“The speed by which a business permit will come out in the NCR should be the same in Mindanao,” Recto said.
Recto urged the Duterte administration to appoint an anti-red tape “czar” who would “wield a big chainsaw in hacking away the thicket of regulations that choke efficiency.”
“We want someone with a bureaucracy-wide mandate. Included here is the national and local and also, government corporations,” Recto said, noting that losses due to red tape is costing the government P140 billion in revenues every year.
Recto said Malacañang should also tap the newly formed Department of Information and Communications Technology in spearheading the practice of online government transactions.
“Permits, licenses should now be applied for, processed, issued, renewed online. In this Republika ng Pila-pinas, let us leave to the MRT the exclusive franchise of organizing long lines,” Recto said.