Duterte urged to appoint anti-red tape head

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is urging President Duterte to appoint as soon as possible a director general for the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), which would pave the way for the implementation of the Ease of Doing Business Act (EODB)  by the second quarter of next year.

Speaking at the Chamber of Commerce of the Philippine Islands’ forum with the theme “Innovation and Best Practices in Achieving the EODB,” Trade Undersecretary Rowel Barba said the DTI is hopeful President Duterte would name a director general for the ARTA at the soonest possible time.

While the DTI has submitted the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for Republic Act 11032 or the EODB Act to the Office of the President last Oct.22, the rules cannot be issued until the director general is appointed and the ARTA is set up.

“It (IRR) should be issued by the authority because under the law, the authority with the DTI, Department of the Interior and Local Government, shall issue the IRR. We just have to wait for the director general to be able to release the IRR,” Barba said.

Should a director general for ARTA be appointed soon, Barba said the DTI is hopeful the law could be implemented by the second quarter of next year.

As it would take time to set up the ARTA, which at present has no budget and staff, Barba said the DTI, which is the temporary secretariat of the authority, is preparing a work plan containing the budget and number of staff needed to set up the organization.

Under the work plan, which will be  submitted to the Department of Budget and Management next week, Barba said they have requested a budget of P300 million and 400 positions  to be filled as initial staff of  the ARTA.  

“We know it takes time to recruit especially in government. The process takes a long time and it is a challenge how to attract people to join government, especially lawyers, because it appears the salaries in national government agencies are lower compared to the Office of the Solicitor General and the Public Attorney’s Office,” he said.

After the ARTA is set up, he said the authority would then have to issue guidelines on what government transactions are considered simple, complex, and highly technical.

The EODB Act prescribes a period for government transactions to be processed, particularly three days for simple transactions, seven days for complex transactions and 20 days for those considered to be highly technical.

Apart from the issuance of guidelines on classifying government transactions, Barba said agencies including local government units would need to reengineer and update their respective citizen’s charter under the law.

“Hopefully, they will be able to update their citizen’s charter by the second quarter or third quarter of next year,” he said.

Signed into law last May, the EODB is expected to help encourage more investors to set up shop in the country.