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| Photo by: Wikimedia Commons |
The Philippine Senate has unanimously voted to approve on third and final reading a legislative proposal that seeks to curb red tape in government processes which are involved in starting and operating business establishments. A total of 17 senators voted to approve Senate Bill No. 1311 or the “Expanded Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA) of 2017” which is an amendatory bill to the already existing Anti Red Tape Act of 2007 or Republic Act 9485.
According to Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri who sponsored the legislative proposal, this bill serves as the Senate’s response to the public clamor of the business sector and government agencies to ease doing business in the Philippines and to place the country on a more competitive scale, in compliance with sound global business practices and standards. The measure was co-sponsored by Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto and co-authored by Senators Panfilo Lacson and Joel Villanueva.
Based on the provisions of the bill, it is mandated that processing of business applications by national or local government offices shall not exceed three working days for simple transactions and seven working days for complex transactions. Once the office concerned fails to act on the application for a license, clearance, or permit within the period prescribed by the law, then the application “shall be deemed approved.”
The legislative proposal also requires the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to create a cloud-native Central Business Portal that would receive business applications and capture necessary data from the application of business entities nationwide.
Also, the existing Competitiveness Bureau under the supervision and control of the Department of Trade and Industry will be renamed to the Business Anti-Red Tape and Competitiveness Bureau, which is tasked to coordinate with the Civil Service Commission in enforcing the Expanded ARTA.
“The bill was meant to reduce red tape or promote transparency in government with regard to business registrations and other manner of transacting with the public,” Zubiri said. He also said that the proposal was Senate’s immediate response to President Rodrigo Duterte’s call to cut red tape in the government during the latter’s State of the Nation Address.
