Senate Majority Leader Migz Zubiri said on Wednesday that the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act earlier signed by President Rodrigo Duterte would be the “skyway and subway” that will liberate businesses from the gridlock of red tape, graft and corruption.
Parañaque City Rep. Gus Tambunting, on the other hand, described the signing of the measure as a ‘game-changer.’
“I am elated that this very important piece of legislation has been signed by President Rodrigo Duterte.”
The new law which amended RA 9845 or the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, is seen to be relevant to businessmen and entrepreneurs who have suffered red tape, graft and corruption.
“As I had experienced, the hundreds of signatures needed seemed like a sticky web from which there was no escape. Fixers boastfully compounded lies to create a stickier web of ‘lagay’ that forced you to spit out ‘padulas.’ No wonder that the underground economy was booming. We want it to be legal, ans yet you are being burdened, Starting from the barangay, going up, it’s difficult to complete documents,” said Zubiri, sponsor and author of the law.
He said the new law is custom-made to hyper-activate business in the Philippines.
“We all want to grow businesses, big or small, be they old establishments or new firms. We all know that the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Law is long overdue,” said Zubiri.
“We knew that bureaucratic red tape and a maze of processes slowed down transactions and discouraged Filipinos from setting up businesses. These drove away foreign investors in droves. Government procedures slowed business like Edsa traffic slowed down everyone in Highway 54,” he added.
According to Zubiri, the law will likewise benefit everybody including government itself, whose agencies are tasked to reform its cantankerous and crabby ways.
“Business activities will accelerate in geometric progression as entrepreneurs become confident that government indeed delivers the services they need in record time as never before."
The new law, he added, will be accompanied by memos, circulars and directives that will streamline, make transparent and facilitate government procedures at all levels.
The law has the following salient features: streamlined procedures and shorter processing time for government transactions; automatic approval clause will apply if an application or request is not acted upon within the prescribed processing time; adoption of Zero Contact policy, Creation of the One central business portal to receive and obtain data involving business related transactions, Creation of the Philippine Business Databank, Creation of Anti-Red tape Authority and the Ease of Doing Business/Anti-Red Tape Advisory Council; and Increase in penalties, among others.
The Senate leader warned that government employees and officials who fail to comply with the law will face stiffer penalties.
This signing of the law is made amidst the sliding of the Philippines in the Institute for Management Development 2018 Competitiveness Ranking from the 41st to the 50th spot.
Zubiri said that he is optimistic that with the signing of the law, the country will bounce back if not higher in competitiveness rankings.
“Last month, the World Bank representatives also interviewed me on this legislation, however, they mentioned that the positive effects on the Philippines ranking will be felt much later or until the impact of the implementation of the law is felt by the business community.”
Ease of Doing Business law will be a game-changer, lawmaker says Tambunting said
“I am elated that this very important piece of legislation has been signed by President Rodrigo Duterte,”
Tambunting, one of the principal authors of the measure at the Lower House, added that “it is about time that we play catch up with our Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) neighbors.
The enactment of the measure, Tambunting said “will definitely be a game-changer for the country.”
“The law requires government agencies to act on applications within 3 days for simple transactions, 7 days for complex ones and 20 days for the highly technical.
“More businesses coming in will mean additional available jobs to our Filipino jobseekers throughout the country," he added.
Quoting a recent World Bank Report, the vice chairman of the House ways and means committee lamented the poor ranking of the Philippines in the Asean region in terms of ease-of-doing-business.
“In number of procedures to start a business, we have 16 compared to six for Laos and Thailand, and, three in Malaysia and Singapore. In registering a property, we have 9 procedures compared to only five in Indonesia and Vietnam; four in Singapore and Laos and three in Thailand. On paying taxes, the Philippines has 36 payments which is close to that of Myanmar, 31 and Brunei, 27 payments; and, almost three times that of Malaysia, 13 and more than seven times that of Singapore, 5 payments," Tambunting said.
The lawmaker explained that the new law seeks to make the environment more conducive to business by simplifying procedures on the national and local levels.
It also mandates the adoption of a unified application form for local tax and building clearances and sanitary and zoning clearances, among others.
“Its objectives are to minimize regulations in securing licenses, clearances and permits on business entities; to create an environment conducive for business to register, comply and operate; and to encourage foreign investment,” he added.
Under the measure, one-stop shops will be established in every city or town and local government units will be encouraged to automate their permit and license processing systems.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology will be tasked to establish a government portal to accept applications from businesses.
The DICT will also create a Philippine Business Registry Databank.