The Anti-Red Tape Authority said Thursday it will carry on with the World Bank’s program on Ease of Doing Business in 2022, after the Department of Trade and Industry approved the creation of the Philippine EODB Reporting System.
“Moving forward, rather than looking at the discontinuation of the World Bank’s EODB, we at ARTA saw this as an opportunity to further take action to monitor and ensure that all necessary and appropriate are well implemented,” said ARTA deputy director-general Ernesto Perez during the EODB Summit.
The localized version of the WB’s EODB will be chaired by the DTI, with support from the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Finance and two private sector representatives.
A joint memorandum order was drafted and routed to concerned agencies for final comment. Perez said the draft JMC is set for signing soon.
The JMC will be guided by the principles of good regulatory principles that will be complemented by the report card survey.
“We are not going to start with the 10 indicators. We’ll probably choose indicators like starting a business, trading across borders and dealing with construction permits. These are the initial three, and also maybe registering property. These are critical indicators that really need focus. Then, maybe after a year or so, we will expand these indicators,” Perez said.
Starting with Quezon City as pilot testing area, the EODB Report will be expanded to other cities like Manila, Parañaque, Pasig, Valenzuela and cities outside Metro Manila.
“All of these things will be operationalized before the term of this administration ends to make it easier for the next administration to continue all the initiatives that this administration has started,” Perez said.
“We would like to believe that more than the ranking by the World Bank’s Doing Business survey, what is more important is that we continue with the reform initiatives which we submitted to improve our competitiveness ranking, attract investors, enhance employment opportunities, country wide development and inclusive growth,” he said.
Through the Philippine EODB reporting system, the government can establish an integrated, responsive and sustainable system of reporting that could strengthen the ongoing EODB initiatives of the government.
It is also seen to promote the systemic whole-of-government approach to increase productivity, efficiency and effectiveness of business permitting and licensing agencies, as well as promote accountable transparent governance and sound regulatory management system that could improve local business environment and encourage investment and jobs generation.
The Philippine EODB Reporting System will be linked to incentive systems on performance of government offices, anchored on factual basis for performance targets and measurements.
“In summary the localized EODB can provide us with a credible and objective reporting that can assess the doing business situation in our country and provide a tool for policymakers for further improvement and business for investment decisions,” said EODB director Paul Erwen Parreño.
The WB terminated the EODB report in September 2021 over alleged irregularities in the findings of the 2018 and 2020 reports.