Anti-red tape agency pushes digitalization

THE process of securing business permits should be made fully digital this year given a presidential order to facilitate adoption nationwide, the chief of the AntiRed Tape Authority (ARTA) said.

Going digital, ARTA Director General Ernesto Perez added, will also minimize human intervention and in turn reduce red tape and corruption.

“The directive from the President (Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) is to implement it within the year because there are local government units (LGUs) that issue permits within 20 to 30 minutes,” he noted.

“Singapore accomplishes this in 10 minutes, so there’s no excuse for the Philippines not to do the same.”

Compliance among LGUs remains low, however, with just 26 out of 1,643 having established electronic business one-stop shops.

Of the compliant municipalities, Navotas City was said to have the fastest processing time of 20 minutes. Valenzuela and Marikina followed at 30 minutes each.

“When businessmen know that in this LGU obtaining business permits and licenses is easy and quick, they themselves will voluntarily register their business and pay the correct amount of taxes or revenues for the LGUs,” Perez said.

The ARTA wants local government units to adopt a pre-approval system, which Perez said would streamline the business permit process.

“Approve first the business permit with the condition that they (the applicants) submit the remaining requirements within, let’s say, 20 days. If they fail to submit within that time frame, then you revoke it,” he said, adding that this has been done to other countries.

To strengthen the ease of doing business in the country, the ARTA and the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) earlier this week agreed to a partnership where the latter would receive and endorse complaints.

“ECCP and all its members nationwide shall be designated as ‘ARTA Champions’ and as such is a partner institution of ARTA in its endeavor to ease the doing of business in the Philippines and to deliver efficient government services,” the memorandum of understanding signed on Tuesday states.