December 2016

SPARK

Quarterly
Publication
of the
ADRInstitute

the key link between IDEAS and ACTION

reducing

Red tape
In government

stratbase.com.ph

Reducing

Red tape
In government

Poor public service delivery due to bureaucratic red tape has long been
a problem in the Philippines. Government planners have recognized the
problem, stating: Cumbersome government procedures slow down the
delivery of public service and increase transaction costs. The same
arduous government processes also provide the venues for corruption,
given the natural tendency to avoid bureaucratic red tape
(Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016).
Indeed, long lines, excessive requirements, and the slow processing of
applications or requests can all be too time-consuming for people and
businesses, such that they resort to giving grease money or lagay to public
officials or getting the assistance of fixers in exchange for easier and faster
transactions. Lagay can be conceived as a form of speed money that
cuts delays in the transmission of files inside administrative offices
by enabling the client to forge ahead in slow-moving
queues for public services (Bardhan 1997).
According to Wilson (1989, as cited by Guriev, 2004), red tape, or excessive
rules and regulations, was created for the opposite purpose: to make sure
that people get the services they need without bribes. Guriev (2004) noted
that one way to look at red tape is that it was imposed on bureaucracy to
reduce favoritism and discretion in order to contain corruption. It, however,
effects otherwise. Red tape hinders people from getting what they need,
resulting in peoples dissatisfaction with the governments delivery
of services, and essentially giving way to corruption
and creating public mistrust in the process.
Image credit: blogs.ft.com

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Evolution of Anti-Red Tape Policy

In a bid to curb red tape and improve
public service delivery, numerous
reforms have been initiated by previous
administrations. Former President Corazon
Aquino directed transparency during her
term (Presidents Report 1986-1992).
Her administration put in place law and
policies on anti-corruption and instituted
reforms to improve frontline service
delivery. One of Aquinos anti-red tape
strategies was the Do Away with Red Tape
(DART) Program. In a speech, she said
that with the DART Program, the public
will be asked to rank each department
according to the complexity and length
of their procedures, and its insistence on
regulating the private economy. The most
complex will be the first to be trimmed on
the chopping block (Official Gazette, n.d.).
Image credit: bantay.ph

Image credit: hrnation.ph

In August 1989, reforms in the

Department of Foreign Affairs resulted
to better service in the processing of
passports, with a recorded 46% increase
in the number of transactions from 1990
to 1991. Meanwhile, in the LTO, the
processing time for renewal of applications
was reduced: from a total of three hours,
processing time went down to 30 minutes.
The Fast Lane System that started in
1988 also gave way to increasing the
number of transactions in the office
(Presidents Report 1986-1991).
The next administrations also instituted
anti-corruption measures. It was during
former President Fidel Ramos term that
the Presidential Commission against Graft
and Corruption, as well as the Election
Modernization Act, were instituted.
Likewise, the Inter-Agency Anti-Graft
Coordinating Council and the National
Anti-Corruption Commission were
created during former President
Joseph Estradas term (Rey, 2016).
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DECEMBER 2016

volume 9 issue 4

features

07

Anti-red tape act

Republic Act No. 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act
(ARTA), how it is implemented, and other measures
that help monitor the implementation of the law.

12

POLICY GAPS
The law is not perfect. As such, it also has gaps that
need to be addressed. Saguins (2013) study on
the Citizens Charter revealed that although citizens
became more informed of the processes on
transactions they needed to do, the general
public is still very much unaware of ARTA.

08

Citizens charter

The concept of the Citizens Charter is not new,

having been introduced several times in
previous administrations before
the passage of this law.

on the cover
Cover page from thisismoney.co.uk

11

Policy implementation

about the author

Dr. Francisco A. Magno
is the Director of the JMR Institute of
Governance at De La Salle University.
He has conducted teaching and research
in several educational institutions, including
Florida State University, University of
Reading, Waseda University, Hiroshima
University, University of Hawaii, University
of the Philippines, and St. Scholasticas
College. He is the President of the
Philippine Political Science Association
and is a Member of the Board of Trustees
of the ADR Institute for Strategic and
International Studies. He finished
his Ph.D. in Political Science at
the University of Hawaii.
Jan Joy Louise Crismo
is a Research Assistant of the JMR
Institute of Governance at De La Salle
University. She previously worked at the
Ateneo School of Government and the
Department of Social Work and
Development. She is enrolled in the M.A.
in Community Development Program at
the University of the Philippines, Diliman.

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Through implementation of ARTA and the i-ARTA

Program, the agencies and offices compliance with
the law, as well as their delivery of frontline services,
are monitored. With the Citizens Charter in place,
transparency of government transactions
and/or processes is assured, and accountability is
exacted from the officers or employees and
their respective offices or agencies.

13

CONCLUSION
The key policy challenge is how to elevate
performance standards and strengthen
implementation either through performance
incentives and administrative sanctions.

CONTENTS

philippine
government
In addition, it was during former President Estradas term
that the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP)
created the Ten-Point Jumpstart Program to combat corruption
(Mendoza, 2011). It included the proposed Mandatory Citizens
Charter along with Transactions Reengineering and Report
Card Surveys as one of the programs in fighting corruption.
The use of a Citizens Charter was developed in the United
Kingdom (Saguin, 2013) as one way of reducing bureaucratic
red tape. Former President Estrada, however, did not
finish his term, and the Program was endorsed to
the next administration (Mendoza, 2011).
The administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
had the most anti-corruption efforts initiated, and probably
because the government needed to gain ground in public
support at that time, especially following the impeachment of
former President Estrada due to graft and corruption (Oyamada,
2005). The Arroyo administrations anti-corruption efforts were
implemented not only at the national level but also at the
local level. Some of these included the National Anti-Corruption
Plan of the Philippines (Rey, 2016) and the lifestyle
check for government officials (Oyamada, 2011).
Efforts to cut red tape were also present in the Arroyo
administrations agenda. Procedures for transactions were
trimmed down as the number of signatories were halved, and
information and communication technology (ICT), as well as
the automated process, were used in transactions. With the
reduction of signatories for transactions, [b]y 2002,
government agencies ha[d] reduced red tape in
their departments ... (Oyamada, 2005).
According to Mendoza (2011), in 2003, Service Guides were
also published by government agencies and offices and Workflow
Charts were also posted per directive of the Office of the
President. However, the Civil Service Commission reported that
compliance was low. Marikina City and Naga City had tried to
set up their Citizens Charters about the same time the
Service Guides were being implemented (Mendoza, 2011).

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The table below shows Mendozas (2011)

comparison of the Citizens Charter
and the Service Guides.
Although former President Arroyo and
her administration had the most number
of anti-corruption efforts and anti-red
tape measures, all these fell short of the
public trust, the publics view on the
pervasiveness of corruption did
not improve. (Oyamada, 2005)
When former President Benigno Simeon
Aquino won the 2010 elections, running
under the slogan Kung Walang Corrupt,
Walang Mahirap, his administration focused

on building anti-corruption initiatives that promote transparency

and accountability (Rey, 2015). Based on the Philippine Development
Plan for 2011-2016, his administrations strategies in
achieving honest and good governance are to:
1. Ensure high quality, efficient, transparent, accountable, financially and
physically accessible and non-discriminatory delivery of public service;
2. Curb both bureaucratic and political corruption;
3. Strengthen the rule of law; and
4. Enhance citizens access to information and participation in governance.
Details of these strategies include the further shortening of the processing
time, maximizing the use of ICT, and strict implementation of the Anti-Red
Tape Act of 2007, which was passed during the term of former
President Arroyo, as well as other anti-corruption initiatives
(Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016).

Content of Service Guides and Citizens Charter

Table 1

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It was during term of President Benigno

Simeon Aquino III that the Governance
Commission for GOCCs was created.
The Philippines also became one of the
founding countries of the Open Government
Partnership (OGP). The OGP was formally
launched in 2011 and the Philippines
has since been creating action plans (that
run for two years) for commitments that
aim for transparency, accountability,
participation, and/or technological
innovation (Open Government Partnership).
For the countrys 3rd National Action Plan
(2015-2017), the Philippines included the
Integrated Anti-Red Tape Act (i-ARTA) Program
conducted by the Civil Service Commission
(CSC) as one of the new OGP commitments
(Cabinet Cluster on Good Governance
and Anti-Corruption and Philippine Open
Government Partnership Steering Committee,
2015). Based on the National Action Plan,
the OGP Grand Challenges it addresses are
increasing public integrity and increasing
public services. The i-ARTA Program
was borne from Republic Act No. 9485,
more commonly known as the
Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007.

Anti-Red Tape Act

This study focuses on Republic Act No.
9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA), how
it is implemented, and other measures that
help monitor the implementation of the
law. RA 9485 is an Act to Improve Efficiency
in the Delivery of Government Service to
the Public by Reducing Bureaucratic Red
Tape, Preventing Graft and Corruption, and
Providing Penalties Thereof. ARTA aims to
promote transparency of the governments
frontline services and accountability on the
part of government officials and employees.
In addition, it aims to reduce red tape and
speed up transactions in the government.

The Anti-Red Tape Act was a product of Senate Bill No. 2589, authored by
Senators Juan Flavier, Edgardo Angara, Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., and Panfilo
Lacson, and House Bill No. 3776, authored by Reps. Jose de Venecia,
Rodriguez Dadivas, Ace Barbers, Eduardo Zialcita, Rey Aquino, Edgar Chatto,
and Florencio Noel (Primer on RA 9485: The Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, 2008).
On June 2, 2007, it was signed into law by then-President Gloria MacapagalArroyo. A year after, its Implementing Rules and Regulations was promulgated
by the CSC through CSC Resolution No. 081471. Former President Arroyo,
through an administrative order, then directed all agencies and offices
to follow the ARTA law by December 2009 (Gainer, 2015).
Under this law, all government offices and agencies, including local government
units and government-owned and controlled corporations providing frontline
services, excluding those with judicial, quasi-judicial, and legislative
functions, are mandated to do the following:
1. Identify their frontline services;
2. Reengineer transaction systems and undergo time-and-motion studies if
necessary; and
3. Create service standards or the Citizens Charter.
In addition, Section 8 of the Act also mandates offices and agencies to limit
signatories to 5 and to shorten the response time for a certain application or
request from 5 to 10 working days. Denial of a particular service availed should
also be explained to the client. The law also requires offices and agencies
to serve even during lunch breaks, wear identification cards at all times,
and to put up a Public Assistance or Complaints Desk in their office.
Heads of offices and agencies are responsible for implementing the Act.
Based on Administrative Order No. 241, agencies will get their funds for ARTA
implementation from their maintenance, operations and overhead expenditures
or their MOOE budget. Specifically, 10 agencies, the Bureau of Customs,
Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Food and Drugs, Bureau of Immigration,
Bureau of Internal Revenue, Department of Environment, Laguna Lake
Development Authority, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Social Security
System, and Government Service Insurance System, will apportion 2% of
their total budget to ARTA implementation. These 10 agencies were also
the pilot agencies for ARTA implementation (Mendoza, 2011).
Meanwhile, at the local level, local government units (LGUs) can apply for
a supplemental budget and cite RA 9485 as justification. The LCE and the
Sanggunian can find a way to acquire funding sources for their Citizens
Charter (Primer on RA 9485: The Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, 2008).

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Citizens Charter
What differentiates ARTA from other
anti-corruption laws in the country
is the inclusion of the Citizens
Charter. The concept of the Citizens
Charter is not new, having been
introduced several times in previous
administrations before the passage
of this law. However, it was only
institutionalized during this time.
Section 6 of the Law requires all
offices covered by the law to set up
their service standards or Citizens
Charter for their frontline services,
which should include the following:
Step by step procedure for each
transaction;
Officer/office responsible for each
step;
Documents required;
Fees, if any;
Time allotted for the whole
transaction.
Further, it must also include the vision
and mission of the office/agency and
the procedure for filing complaints.
Citizens Charters must be in the
form of information billboards and
published materials; written in English,
Filipino, or the local language; and
placed in front of the office/agency or
at a very noticeable place in the office.
Citizens Charter of agencies and
offices are subject to review every
two years. According to Mendoza
(2011), implementation of the
Citizens Charter at the local level was
piloted in LGUs in the information
technology corridor. Trainings were
held for government officials crafting
their agencies or offices Citizens
Charter (Mendoza, 2011), with DAP
being the lead agency for capacity
building. In 2009, DAP held a seminar
on formulating and implementing the
Citizens Charter for some national
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government agencies, LGUs, and

state universities and colleges. Aside
from this, DAP also assisted them in
creating their own Citizens Charters
(Saguin, 2013). Meanwhile, LGUs that
already have their Service Standards
or Citizens Charters, only need to
update it (Primer on RA 9485: The
Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, 2008).

Sanctions
Sections 11 and 12 of the law provide
the sanctions for government officials
or employees, as well as for fixers
found to be violating the law. For
government officials or employees,
refusal to accept transactions,
applications, or requests constitutes
a light offense, with penalties ranging
from 30 days suspension without
pay and obligatory attendance to
the Values Orientation Program
to dismissal and perpetual
disqualification from public service.
What constitutes a grave offense is
conniving with fixers or acting as fixers
for personal gain. Penalty for a grave
offense is dismissal and perpetual
disqualification from public service.
Fixers, on the other hand, will face
imprisonment for up to six (6) years
or a fine of Php 20,000 to
Php 200,000 or both.

Policy Implementation
Report Card Survey
The Report Card Survey (RCS) is a
provision of the law (Sec 10, RA 9485)
that aims to monitor how agencies
and offices implement ARTA and
how they fare in the services that
they provide. Aside from measuring

agencies implementation of ARTA

and its performance of service, it also
gathers data on clients awareness
of the Citizens Charter and aims to
get information on hidden costs or
bribes and fixing activities. The Civil
Service Commission, in coordination
with the Development Academy of the
Philippines, conducts this annually.
The RCS is a client feedback survey
that uses quantitative tools. Using
an inspection checklist and a survey
questionnaire approved by the National
Statistics Authority, 30 respondents
in every office or agency are selected
through interval sampling and
then interviewed for three days.
After the interviews, data gathered
are encoded and report cards are
generated, bearing the agencys
score and descriptive rating, which
may be Excellent, Outstanding, Good,
Acceptable, and Failed. This, including
a narrative report on the RCS findings,
is given to offices and agencies during
an Exit Conference conducted by the
CSC with the respective agencies and
offices. In addition, scores of offices
and agencies are also published.
The ARTA team at CSC initially did the
survey when it was piloted in 2010.
In 2011, they tapped civil society
organizations that had experience in
social audits and citizen monitoring;
and in 2013, when there was an
increase in the budget of ARTA
implementation, they decided to hire
enumerators/ researchers to do
the survey (Gainer, 2015).
The RCS initially covered 50
government offices in 16 regions, with
focus on the LGUs (Gainer, 2015). For
2015, the RCS was conducted in nine
government agencies with the most
transactions based on the Contact
Center ng Bayan (CCB). The 2015

The Philippines also became one of the founding countries of

the Open Government Partnership (OGP). The OGP was formally
launched in 2011 and the Philippines has since been creating
action plans for commitments that aim for transparency,
accountability, participation, and/or technological innovation
RCS surveyed 1,114 service offices
nationwide (Civil Service Commission).
For 2016, coverage of RCS has been
expanded. It included LGUs, water
districts, and state universities and
colleges in the survey (Philippine
Information Agency, 2016). This
years RCS also aims to survey 1,007
agencies and offices nationwide
(Philippine Statistics Authority, 2016).

Other CSC initiatives

Following the law, the CSC launched
the ARTA Program. It was further
developed in 2014 and was
reintroduced as the Integrated ARTA
(i-ARTA) Program. This program
included RCS and other CSC initiatives
in monitoring and implementing ARTA
that are not included in the law.
Based on their Project Status Report,
for 2016, it has a budget allocation
of Php 31,550,000 from the
General Appropriations Act.
The following are the components of
the i-ARTA Program: (1) ARTA Watch,
(2) Contact Center ng Bayan, (3)
Service Delivery Excellence Program,
and (4) Citizens Satisfaction Center
Seal of Excellence Award.
ARTA Watch
The ARTA Watch was first conducted
in 2011. It has two aims: first to
monitor ARTA implementation
and, second, to disseminate
information regarding the law.
The ARTA Watch is a surprise
inspection or spot check conducted
by top officials of the CSC to agencies

or offices. These agencies and offices

are made aware of the conduct
of ARTA Watch, but the exact date
of inspection is not revealed. CSC
officials make the surprise visit
during lunchtime to observe the
implementation of the No Noon
Break policy. This is one of ARTA
Watchs focus; the other is
the Anti-Fixer Campaign.
Contact Center ng Bayan The CCB is
a feedback mechanism initiated by
the CSC and Communications
Technology Office-National Computer
Center (CTO-NCC). It aims to aid in
implementing ARTA, curb corruption
and red tape in the government,
and help in the improvement of
frontline services delivery.
With the CCB, people can file
complaints, ask for information or
assistance, or give positive feedback
to government agencies or offices
through text (0908 881 6565);
call (1-6565); or by logging online
(Civil Service Commission).
It was first implemented in 2012 in
six (6) pilot agencies, namely CSC,
NCC, Bureau of Internal Revenue,
Philippine Health Insurance
Corporation, Department of Health,
and Department of Trade and
Industry (Civil Service Commission).
Aside from the above-mentioned
hotlines, the CCB is also currently
in charge of the hotline 8888 and
delivers service 24 hours a day. It
is housed inside the CSC but
there are plans to lodge the CCB
separately from the CSC.

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Service Delivery Excellence Program

The Service Delivery Excellence Program (SDEP) was developed to aid
offices or agencies that failed in the ARTA RCS. It serves as the
capacity building component of the i-ARTA program.
The SDEP is a training program where offices or agencies are
assisted in streamlining their frontline services and employees are
prepared to become change facilitators who will help improve
and deliver frontline services (SDEP Training Manual).
Citizens Satisfaction Center Seal of Excellence Award
The Citizens Satisfaction Center Seal of Excellence Award (CSC-SEA) is given to
offices or agencies that get the Excellent rating in the RCS. To qualify for this
award, agencies or offices with the Excellent mark are first subjected to a
two-phase validation. After this, they are awarded with the wall-mountable
glass seal and given a cash prize of Php 100,000. This award is given
annually by service office level and is only valid for 1 year.

Sample Bantay.ph Local Government Monitoring Results in

Quezon City
Figure 1

Source: Bantay.ph
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Bantay.ph
Bantay.ph is an organization whose mission
is to uplift the standard of government
service and increase citizen engagement
(Bantay.ph). Like the CSC, it aims to combat
red tape. Bantay.ph has an online platform
that informs and educates people on the
ARTA law and encourages citizens to
take part in their work. Bantay.ph
works through volunteerism.
In 2015, it signed a memorandum
of agreement with the CSC for ARTA
monitoring and documentation of these
activities (Punongbayan, 2015). That same
year, Bantay.ph stated in a press release
that one of their activities is training student
volunteers to check the ARTA compliance
of Metro Manila LGUs. Results of the
monitoring are published on their website
(Figure 1).

Image credit: dv.com

Policy Implementation
Through implementation of ARTA and the i-ARTA Program, the agencies and
offices compliance with the law, as well as their delivery of frontline services,
are monitored. With the Citizens Charter in place, transparency of government
transactions and/or processes is assured, and accountability is exacted
from the officers or employees and their respective offices or agencies.
Saguins (2013) study on the Citizens Charter revealed similar results. Based
on his study, compliance with ARTA is higher compared to other laws or measures
initiated in the past. Transparency and accountability is also highlighted through
the Citizens Charter. In addition, Saguin (2013) also found that posting
the Citizens Charters made more citizens aware of transactions
processes. Fixing activities also lessened, although this might only
be because of the RCS done in service offices.

Based on the ARTA RCS 2015 results,

of the 1,114 offices surveyed, 1,099 offices
passed the RCS, and only 15 got a Failed
rating. This means that almost all of the
service offices surveyed complied
with ARTA and most of the offices or
agencies surveyed had good frontline
service delivery as per clients.
Figure 2 shows a screenshot of the
summarized ARTA RCS 2015 results. Based
on this, the Government Service Insurance
System had the highest percentage of
offices that received the Excellent rating.

ARTA Report Card Survey 2015 Results

Figure 2

Source: Civil Service Commission

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Moreover, CSCs programs for those

that fail or pass the RCS with flying
colors contribute to the agencies and
offices competitiveness in delivering
services to the public. It has been
observed by the CSC that those who
get the Excellent ratings are the
same offices or agencies that
failed during the previous RCS.
There was also a noticeable
decrease of failing offices or agencies,
observed by the CSC through the RCS.
Percentage of agencies or offices
failing the RCS went from 27% in 2011
to 4% in 2014. Likewise, there was
also an increase in the percentage
of agencies or offices getting the
Excellent rating: from 4% in 2011
to 27% in 2014 (Gainer, 2015).
A case study by the Institute of
Solidarity in Asia (2015) also
showed that the RCS fosters healthy
competition among the agencies and
offices. As the results are published,
they see how they fare with other
agencies, and this in turn makes
them want to do better. The improved
performance of offices and agencies
due to publicized results are also
shown in Gainers (2015) study.

Policy Gaps
The law is not perfect. As such, it also
has gaps that need to be addressed.
Saguins (2013) study on the Citizens
Charter revealed that although
citizens became more informed of
the processes on transactions they
needed to do, the general public is
still very much unaware of ARTA. The
Citizens Charter merely serves as
compliance to the law for the offices or
agencies, instead of it becoming a tool
to empower citizens and curb red tape.
Saguin (2013) also found that there
are two items least followed in the
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Citizens Charter: the maximum

processing time and the fees. It was
observed that the posted maximum
processing time on Citizens Charters
do not reflect the overall processing
time for requests or applications.
Rather, it only posted the processing
time spent, assuming the citizen
applying or requesting has all the
required documents and that all
goes well. Saguin (2013) also
noted that the formulation of Citizens
Charters did not involve citizens.
Rather, citizen participation was
limited giving feedback.
The study done by Ateneo School of
Government (ASoG) on ARTA RCS
in 2014 seems to echo some of the
findings in Saguins study. Based
on ASoGs study, the RCS seems
to only look at the physical aspects
of ARTA compliance. The RCS only
checks whether or not the Citizens
Charter and other posters or signs
are present, and fails to focus on the
quality of services. As such, the studys
recommendations for the improvement
of ARTA RCS included looking into
the overall time it took to finish a
transaction. Another recommendation
given was the more consistent
targeting of agencies, because such
targeting had varied while the CSC
was deciding how to prioritize (Gainer,
2015). With consistent targeting,
changes in the performance of
agencies or offices can easily
be seen (Gainer, 2015)
On June 2016, the government
launched Project Repeal, which aims
to reduce red tape and make it
easier to do business in the country
(Schnabel, 2016) by reviewing laws
and regulations and updating them.
This means removing the unnecessary
or outdated ones and merging the
similar ones (Jiao, 2016).

Project Repeal was first implemented in the following agencies: Department of Finance; Department of
Trade and Industry; Department of Budget and Management; Department of Tourism; Department of
Energy; Department of Public Works and Highways; Securities and Exchange Commission; and
Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (Jiao, 2016). On the first Repeal Day,
held in June, almost 4,000 regulations were cut. The next Repeal Day is set on December,
and around 5,000 laws are planned to be removed (Schnabel, 2016).
The DoF and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) have partnered to
put up an online database to unify recordkeeping across agencies (Lopez, 2016). Through the DICT
database, agencies will be able to share records, making it easier for the citizens to apply for various
documents they need. They are targeting to finish the database before the year ends (De la Paz, 2016).

Conclusion
The 2007 Anti-Red Tape Act is a valuable policy tool for reducing transaction time and easing the
cost of doing business in the Philippines. It fosters transparency and minimizes discretion in
government decision-making processes. When public agencies supply appropriate process flowcharts
on frontline services, information asymmetry is kept in check. Citizens and the private sector are able
to transact with government without the need for fixers who perform brokerage functions. The key
policy challenge is how to elevate performance standards and strengthen implementation
either through performance incentives and administrative sanctions.
In Congress, several bills were filed seeking to lessen the processing time for government transactions
and enhance service standards. The proposed measures aim to amend certain sections of the
ARTA law. These include Senate Bill No. 982 filed by Senator Panfilo Lacson, Senate Bill No. 932
filed by Senator Ralph Recto, and House Bill No. 2148 filed by Representative Enrico Pineda and
Representative Odylon Romero. These bills, although separately filed, all sought to amend a portion of
Section 8 of RA 9485. From the original 5-10 working days allotted for a certain office or agency to act
upon requests or applications, they are proposing to change it to 3-7 working days. Only Senate Bill No.
982 had additional proposed amendments. It desires to amend Section 9, and include that
all applications or requests (license, permit, or authority) not acted upon during the allotted time
will be deemed approved until a decision on that certain application or request is made.
Additional actions are being proposed to tighten the implementation loop through severe sanctions.
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri is exploring the possibility of criminalizing red tape. This means that in the
event that the processing of an application or request extends beyond the maximum processing time,
the officer or employee responsible may be charged with a criminal offense (Mercurio, 2016).
Another way of strengthening compliance with anti-red tape regulations is through performance-based
incentives. Fiscal transfers can be increased for local government units and national agencies that
perform well in reducing transaction time for frontline services and easing the cost of doing business.

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Image credit: bantay.ph

references
Bantay.ph
Bardhan, Pranab. 1997. Corruption and Development:
A Review of Issues, Journal of Economic Literature. 35:
1320-1346.
Brillantes, A. B. and M. T. Fernandez. 2010. Toward a
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4TH QUARTER 2016

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