CCCI awaits IRR, offers to help push EODB law

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) hopes that the government will be able to finalize the IRR (Implementing Rules and Regulations) of Ease of Doing Business (EODB) law to commence its formal implementation.

According to CCCI president Virgilio Espeleta, the chamber will then reach out to implementing agencies and work with them.

This way, CCCI member companies will be well oriented of the new law and how they are going to do business with rules.

Recently, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) secretary Ramon M. Lopez announced that despite the absence of IRR, the new law is already running.

Espeleta said that the business sector is anticipating the real effect of EODB law, because as of now businesses are yet to feel the changes.

Thus, once the IRR is out, CCCI is offering its hand to concerned government agencies for fast implementation and to finally cut red tape.

On the other hand, Lopez reminded, especially the business sector, that despite the absence of IRR, businesses can already access the new law through different government agencies.

In fact, if a government agency for instance insists on not following the new law, or if businesses still experience delays in obtaining government documents, they can file a case at the DTI, Office of the Ombudsman or the Civil Service Commission.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the EODB law in May of last year. It pegs the transaction time for obtaining business permits, licenses and documents to three working days for simple procedures; seven working days for complex; and 20 working days for highly technical.

Espeleta hopes that the IRR will be released before the chamber celebrates the Cebu Business Month (CBM 2019) this June so that this topic will be extensively discussed in different forums.