President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered all government agencies to respond to requests and concerns of the public within 15 days and their failure to respond will result in administrative charges, the Palace said on Monday.
The Memorandum Circular No. 44 on the processing time of government permits, licenses and other documents aims to hasten government transactions as well as promote transparency and accountability was signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on behalf of the President last May 4 which takes effect immediately.
Last year, President Duterte has directed all his Cabinet secretaries to reduce requirements and the processing time of all applications filed in government offices “from the day of submission to release.”
“I do not want people queuing. I do not want people spending money just to get something from the government, for the simple reason they already paid. That is why they have to spend, they pay taxes,” the President said.
Many government agencies are notorious for the long queues and need to spend days just to follow up documents.
Among these are agencies that directly deal with the public like the National Statistics Office, the Professional Regulation Commission, the Department of Foreign Affairs, among others.
“All government agencies and instrumentalities, including government-owned or-controlled corporations performing frontline services defined in RA [Republic Act] No. 9485 are hereby directed to respond to all public requests and concerns with 15 days from receipt thereof, unless a shorter period is provided under applicable laws and issuances,” the Palace said. Vito Barcelo
Medialdea also said that frontline services are defined as “process or transaction between clients and government offices or agencies involving applications for any privilege, right, permit, reward, license, concession, or for any modification, renewal or extension of the enumerated applications and/or requests which are acted upon in the ordinary course of business of the agency or office concerned.”
“The State shall provide the means to strengthen the people’s channel of communication to the government by promoting and emphasizing the importance of responsive and service-oriented government agencies and instrumentalities, with the objective of fostering transparency and accountability,” the memo stated.
In the memo, Medialdea said under the anti-red tape law, the State shall take appropriate measures to promote transparency in public transactions with agencies “with the objective of reducing red tape and expediting transactions in government.”
The government code of conduct, on the other hand, provides all public officials and employees to respond to letters, telegrams or other means of communications sent by the public within 15 working days. The reply must also contain the action taken on the request.
