THE House of Representatives has readied for referral to the Senate a measure which seeks, among others, to simplify permit and licensing system procedures and streamline the requirements at the national and local levels.
The House unanimously passed House Bill 6579 or “An Act Establishing A National Policy On Ease Of Doing Business, Creating For The Purpose The Ease Of Doing Business Commission.”
The bill’s authors, led by Batangas Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto, expressed hope the senators would share the same enthusiasm as that of congressmen in passing the bill which also aims to provide a business environment conducive for the establishment and operation of enterprises in the country.
They said the enactment of the bill shall promote transparency in government with regard to business registration and other manner of public transactions, to reduce red tape and expedite permitting, licensing, and other similar transactions in government.
It also seeks to ensure timely and expeditious processing of business requirements by national government agencies and local government units, Santos-Recto said.
Santos-Recto said it would take 16 procedures to navigate and an average of 29 days to start a business in the country.
“Compared to our other Asean neighbors in the ‘Ease in Starting a Business’ rankings, the Philippines has performed poorly,” Santos-Recto said.
She said the Philippines placed 165th in the ranking of 189 economies and lagged behind Singapore, ranked in 1st place, Malaysia in 14th place, Thailand in 96th place, Vietnam in 119th place, and Laos in 153rd place.
The bill calls for the creation of the National Policy in the Ease of Doing Business which is a comprehensive and regulatory management policy to improve competitiveness and ease undue bureaucratic and regulatory burden to business entities.