Housing czar Eduardo del Rosario wants the Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development to become a frontrunner in championing ease of doing business.
“As the youngest department in the whole bureaucracy, we would like DHSUD to champion the ease of doing business and I think this is the right time for us. We are just a year-and-a-half old and the best thing to do is start right and follow the ease of doing business,” he said.
In support of the initiative, which is in line with the government’s national effort on the harmonization of efficiency measures of interrelated agencies program, he vowed that homeowners’ associations could no longer impede the setting up of common towers.
“The HOA consent will not delay the implementation and construction of shared telecom tower infrastructure because this will serve as a hindrance for the progress of our desire to fast-track the putting up of thousands of towers nation-wide,” he said.
“Hence, locational clearance from HOAs should not be included in the requirements anymore,” he added.
He made the remark during Thursday’s digital signing of the first joint memorandum circular, led by the Anti-Red Tape Authority, for the streamlining of the permitting process for common towers meant to further bolster the country’s information and communications technology facilities.
The other signatories were Information and Communications Technology Secretary Gregorio Honasan II, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, and Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez.
Representatives from the Food and Drug Administration, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission also graced the online forum.
During the crafting of the joint memorandum circular, Del Rosario instructed his officials not to incorporate the particular provision from the previous Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board Resolution that required HOAs’ consent.
“Information technology is the key to the future. And our joint memorandum circular today is truly a great leap forward. This will give us a strong message that we give importance to information technology as a key to progress,” he said.
The NEHEMIA program is a sectoral-based streamlining measure aimed at reducing the process, requirements, time needed and expenses that an individual has to endure just to avail of government services.
