House OKs anti-red tape body’s 2023 budget

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman’s call for the abolition of the Anti-Red Tape Authority may take a while after the House of Representatives approved early this week the ARTA’s proposed budget for 2023.

“It would be best if the interest of the people is served in the meantime. Basically, it would also be a means of decongesting the work of the ombudsman. We will wait to hear the input of the majority with regard to its abolition,” Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin said in a news briefing.

Administration lawmakers approved in plenary deliberations Tuesday ARTA’s proposed P266.5-million budget under the 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP), which is lower than its present budget of P279.2 million.

Ako Bicol Rep. Raul Bongalon , ARTA’s budget sponsor in the floor debates, defended its mandate wherein two major telecommunications firms credited ARTA for streamlining the permit issuance process, resulting in issuance of 68,711 permits in 2021.

With regard to the query of Rep. Felimon Espares of the COOP NATCCO party-list on why ARTA opted for a lower allocation, Bongalon said no budget was allocated for capital outlay while maintenance and other operating expenses was decreased by P30 million.

Last week, Ombudsman Samuel Martires called for the abolition of ARTA when he attended the organization meeting conducted by the House committee on justice headed by Rep. Juliet Ferrer of Negros Occidental.

The retired Supreme Court justice, whom former president Rodrigo Duterte appointed to the anti-graft investigating body in 2018, said the “unconstitutional” law creating the ARTA “usurps or encroaches upon the powers of the ombudsman.”

The ARTA Law was signed into law by Duterte in May 2018.