Efficient services closer to the people
Aligned to its initiative of eliminating red tape, ARTA conducted a Bagong Pilipinas town hall meeting and Ease of Doing Business (EODB) orientation among barangay officials in the City of San Fernando in Pampanga.
ARTA Director-General Ernesto Perez underscored that it is vital that the fight against red tape begins in the villages to ensure that efficient services are available closer to the people.
“The barangay is an effective and more efficient way by which programs of government can be fully-implemented. It has to be done at the barangay level. If we are to fully implement our programs [and] initiatives at the barangay level, then we are assured that our programs will be successful especially with the vision of the President for Bagong Pilipinas,” he said.
Efficient local government officials will ensure that problems about red tape in the villages will easily be addressed. It will attract investors that will lead to economic improvement.
Republic Act 11032, otherwise known as the EODB Act of 2018, mandates that government offices are required to complete simple transactions within three days; complex transactions within seven days; and highly technical transactions within 20 days.
With this in place, the public can report to ARTA those who failed to deliver services on time.
Public servants who are found violating the law will be suspended for six months on the first offense, and jailed for up to six years with a penalty ranging from P500,000 to P2 million and removed from retirement benefits on the second count.
As part of their obligation in the implementation of the EODB Law, ARTA has instructed local government units (LGUs) to operationalize electronic business one-stop shops in their areas. It shall handle usual transactions such as applications for license, clearance, permit, and authorization.
Perez emphasized that these should serve as an end-to-end process for applications for business permits including the submission of requirements, processing, payment of fees, and the printing of the required fees that can be done in the comfort of the clients’ homes.
“We encourage LGUs who have not yet set up an operationalized one to adapt this program because this, for sure, will be a more effective way of fighting red tape and corruption and even in improving the revenue collection thereby improving the economy of the LGU,” he added.
LGUs which were able to operationalize electronic business one-stop shops have seen a substantial increase in the number of business registrations, as well as revenue collections.
A compliant LGU will also be able to issue a business permit in as short as 20 minutes. In 2024, the target duration in applying for a business permit should be about 10 minutes, ARTA said.
