Government moves to cut red tape

MANILA, Philippines - The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) and seven other government agencies are set to clean up regulations and legislation deemed burdensome and irrelevant to the economy.

The NCC, together with seven participating agencies, set into motion yesterday Project Repeal, a program which vows to eliminate red tape in the country by revoking provisions or rules which are no longer necessary or which may be detrimental to the economy.

The Departments of Trade and Industry (DTI), Finance (DOF), Energy (DOE), Budget and Management (DBM), Tourism (DOT), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) have signified their commitment to reduce the regulatory costs by repealing  or amending unnecessary, costly, and out-dated rules in their respective agencies.

NCC co-chairman for the private sector Bill Luz said an initial 17,388 laws and issuances were gathered for review by the Project Repeal technical working committee from the seven government agencies.

Of these laws and issuances collected, Luz said bulk came from DPWH, DOF, and DOTC while the fewest emanated from DTI and LTFRB.

“Some of the rules submitted to the committee date back to the Commonwealth and Martial Law periods. NCC expects the list to expand as the other agencies and the public have continued to submit proposals,” Luz said.

The NCC said 3,959 issuances of the 17,388 gathered would initially be reviewed to undergo repeal or amendment.

The 3,959 issuances are mainly composed of department administrative orders, joint administrative orders, memorandum orders, and circulars.

Of this number, the NCC said 1,900 are subject for repeal, while 2,032 previously repealed rules are subject for deletion or delisting from official websites and rosters of regulations and laws, 22 similar issuances are subject for consolidation into one legal document, and five are for amendment or deletion of certain provisions.

Once fully implemented, Luz said the project should result to reduced cost of compliance for people and businesses as well as savings for the economy.

“NCC envisions Project Repeal to reduce the cost of compliance for business as well as generate savings for the citizens. This could

be made possible through a whole-of-a-government approach of instituting a system for repealing laws and allowing public participation in the repeal process,” Luz said.

NCC said the project was patterned after similar initiatives in Australia, South Korea, UK, and Vietnam.

Prior to the creation of Project Repeal, four government agencies have started their own anti-red tape measures.