Duterte orders officials to use logbooks to record all transactions

Cabinet members and other heads of government agencies will be required to use a logbook to record all transactions amid plans to “audit" their performance, President Duterte announced last Tuesday.

Bent on cutting red tape in the bureaucracy, the President said he intends to examine these government transactions, including the processing period of permits and other documents in state offices, and hold accountable those who fail to deliver efficient services.

"I will require every department, all of you, Cabinet members, ask the bureaus to have a logbook. The time that the application is --- sa bureau, and they have the papers,” he said during the Taal situation briefing in Batangas City last Tuesday.

“You write all the things that you need for a particular transaction or paper or document in your office. Ilista mo doon sa (List it down on the) logbook when it was submitted. Then another logbook or across it is kailan lumabas (when it was released) so I will audit it,” he added.

Duterte also said he would soon issue an executive order to streamline government processing of documents and other transactions to provide efficient public service. He said he was "very impatient" and wanted the government to serve the people better.

"In the next Cabinet meeting, I will already be ready with the executive order. I will ask you to abbreviate at i-limit mo ‘yung opisina na dadaanan ng (limit the number of offices where the document will pass). One table, there’s a corruption. Another table, after the approval, he sits on the papers, waits for the money, then releases the paper," he said.

Duterte remained frustrated with the apparent slow government transactions that cause public inconvenience.

He said he intends to give regional directors two to three days to act on pending requests in their offices.