Business leaders expect law to have “real teeth”

The Ease of Doing Business Act, which President Duterte signed on Monday, should have "real teeth" to finally curb bureaucracy in the government, a Cebu business leader said yesterday.

Cebu Business Club president Gordon Alan Joseph expressed pessimism whether the government can actually enforce the law.

"My question is whether this act will have real teeth? How will it be enforced? Monitored?" Joseph told The FREEMAN yesterday when asked for his comment on the newly passed law.

"Many of our LGUs (local government units) are notorious for not following the national laws or their own laws they enact," said Joseph, who is co-chair of the Regional Competitiveness Committee.

"As positive a development as this is, I am pessimistic about the government being able to monitor and enforce this new law. What will they do differently to ensure that this new law and the new standards it imposes will be enforced?" the businessman pointed out.

According to Joseph, the Philippines has languished in its mid-50's ranking out of 137 countries in the latest World Economic Forum (WEF) rankings but the country is still way behind Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia in that order.

"Vietnam also sits on top of the Philippines. So that's four ASEAN countries who outperform the Philippines. Make that five including Singapore," he said.

"We are very poor in ease of doing business and this has been weighing down our competitiveness through the years, in addition of course to infrastructure and institutional issues," Joseph further emphasized.

For his part, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Antonio Chiu said bureaucracy remains one of the top concerns of businessmen.

"We are very much relieved that it is already a law. This in particular will benefit our small businesses. They are the biggest beneficiaries. This will simplify processes," the business leader said in an interview with The FREEMAN yesterday.

Being the chamber's president, he said one of his thrusts is really to push more for the reduction in cost of doing business and boost in ease of doing business.

Chiu expressed hopes the law will take away the frustrations of businesses towards transacting with the government and make processes easier.

"Bureaucracy is among our top concerns. We will continue to push for cost and ease of doing business," the CCCI official said.

In a statement yesterday, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the newlyenacted Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 will make doing business in our country easier as it promotes efficient government.

“Under the EODB/ Efficient Government Act, businesses can expect streamlined processes, reduced processing times from all government agencies, including government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs). Government agencies shall be made to comply with the prescribed processing time: three working days for simple transactions, seven working days for complex transactions, and 20 working days for highly technical transaction," Lopez said.

The EODB-EGSDA Act, which amended the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, requires all local government units to streamline procedures for the issuance of business permits, clearance and other type of authorizations by implementing unified business application form. LGUs are mandated to setup Business One Stop Shop (BOSS) to facilitate business permits application.

The law also provides that barangay clearances and permits must be issued at the city or municipality to speed up transactions.

Apart from streamlining, the law also provides for the creation of a Central Business Portal that will receive and capture application data on businessrelated transactions, while Philippine Business Databank shall provide LGUs and national government agencies access to information to verify validity and existence of businesses. With this, businesses are not required to submit the same documentary requirement previously submitted.

Lopez, who now chairs the Ease of Doing Business and Anti Red Tape Advisory Council (EODB/ARTAC), called RA 11032 a landmark legislation that will have a direct impact on all citizens and business sector.

“We realized that for the EODB reforms to be fully implemented and integrated, a whole-of-government approach was necessary. Thus in full support of the President’s vision, Congress enacted a law that will make doing business in the Philippines easier and more importantly, create a more efficient government," Lopez added.

The EODB-EGSDA law will be implemented by the Anti-Red Tape Authority, an agency under the Office of the President that will monitor compliance of agencies, and implement and oversee national policy on antired tape and ease of doing business. The seven-member Ease of Doing Business and Anti-Red Tape Advisory Council will be composed of the Secretaries of DILG, DICT, and DOF, and two members from the private sector. The EODB/ARTAC will serve as the policy and advisory body of ARTA, to be chaired by DTI secretary, and the Director General of the Anti Red Tape Authority (ARTA) as vice chair.