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RED TAPE

Eduardo F. Bainto

RED TAPE: - Excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents actions or decision making. - Includes the filling out of paperwork, obtaining of licenses, having multiple people or committees approve a decisions and various low-level rules that make conducting ones affairs slower, more difficult or both.

Philippines has third worst bureaucracy in Asia - survey


Most inefficient bureaucracies according to PERC Rank Asian country Score 1 India 9.41 2 Indonesia 8.59 3 Philippines 8.37 4 Vietnam 8.13 5 China 7.93 6 Malaysia 6.97 7 Taiwan 6.60 8 Japan 6.57 9 South Korea 6.13 10 Thailand 5.53 11 Hongkong 3.49 12 Singapore 2.53

List of red tape prone agencies according to National Competitiveness Commission (NCC)
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Bureau of Customs (BOC) Local Government Units (LGU) Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Food and Drugs Administration (FDA)

BIR,BI,SSS,DENR and PHILHEATH have been taken out of the list because the agencies made considerable progress in combating red tape

CUTTING THE RED TAPE: - R.A. 9485- Anti red tape Law of 2007- imposes stiff penalties on fixers including prison sentences of up to six years and fines of up to P200,000.00. - Fix the Fixers Campaign- attempt to get the public involved in helping reduce the crime and increasing revenues associated with business and other permits. Mamamayan Muna, Hindi Na Mamaya Program in 1994- encouraged a client who is dis-satisfied with the service of a government office to file a complaint at the Civil Service

- TEXTCSC Program- citizens were invited to report irregularities and allegations of corruption in public service by texting 0917-TEXTCSC - Computerization- upgrade government computer system to improve services - Red tape in procurement can be minimized by continuously upgrading the countrys procurement legislation, policies, regulations, practices and procedures to ensure the most beneficial use of government monies for public good. continuous training of government employees

MEMORANDUM
TO : ALL OFFICE OF THE MAYOR EMPLOYEEES/STAFF SUBJ : STRICT IMPLAMENTATION OF THE ANTI-RED TAPE LAW
(RA NO 9485) AND ORDINANCE NO SP-1656, S2005

DATE : 10 JANUARY 2011 _________________________________________________ ________________ Employee(s) staff caught loitering and/or doing the act of fixing and/or collusion with fixers in all Revenue Generating Departments/Offices w/o Written Authorization form the Mayor or the Chief of Staff shall be dealt with immediate termination of their Contract of Service/Job contract pursuant to Republic Act No. 9485 otherwise known Anti-Red Tape Law of 2007, its

Quezon City Government cuts red tape for permits BOSS- Business One Stop Shop which enables applicants to obtain business permits within 15 minutes with BOSS an applicant goes through only three steps: application evaluation, assessment and payment and release of permit. get rid of illegal fixing where people offer to facilitate transaction with government agencies and often in collaboration with

Republic Act No. 9485 entitled AN ACT TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY IN THE DELIVERY OF GOVERNMENT SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC BY REDUCING BUREAUCRATIC RED TAPE PREVENTING GRAFT AND CORRUPTION, AND PROVIDING PENALTIES THEREFOR is commonly referred to as the Anti-Red Tape Law.

signed by the President Gloria M. Arroyo last June 18, 2007 its implementing Rules and regulations (IRR) were drafted through the joint efforts of of the Civil Service Commission, Development Academy of the Philippines, Office of the Ombudsman and the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission.

The notable features of the Anti-Red Tape Act:


-- The law applies to all government offices including local government units and government-owned-andcontrolled- corporations that provide frontline services. Agencies performing judicial, quasi-judicial and legislative functions are excluded from the coverage of the Act but their frontline services are deemed included; -- The law limits the number of signatures of officials or employees directly supervising the evaluation, approval or disapproval of the frontline service that may include request, application or transaction, to a maximum of five signatures.

-- The law requires all government offices to draw up a Citizen's charter which identifies the frontline services offered, the step-by-step procedures, the employee responsible for each step, the amount of fees, the documents to be presented by the client and the procedure for filing complaints in relation to requests and applications. The charter must be posted in all information billboards. -- All applications/requests for frontline services shall be acted upon not longer than five working days for simple and 10 working days for complex transaction. -- Denial of request for access to government service shall be fully explained in writing, stating the name of the person making the denial and the grounds for denial. -- Public assistance desks must be set in all offices and shall be attended to even during break time.

-- The

Citizens Help Line is touted the 'mother of all call centers' as a single phone number that can connect citizens to every service provided by government will be set up. -- The Report Card Survey, patterned from the popular tv show Hoy Gising that was successful in calling the attention of government offices and officials by pointing out their failures as well as successes, the government will have its own Honor Roll for good performance and Horror Roll for the inept and corrupt -- The Report Card promises to hold nonperforming bureaucrats to account while giving credit where it is due

-- The Legal Teeth, the most important feature of the Act as it gives legal teeth to the various government programs that seek to reduce red tape. It defines various violations from a simple failure to attend to clients to something as grave as 'fixing.' Fixers may now suffer imprisonment for up to six years or be asked to pay a fine of up to P200,000. This is in addition to the penalty of dismissal and perpetual disqualification from public service to government employees found guilty of administrative offenses. -- The law gives an individual or a group the right to file appropriate charges against Cabinet Secretaries or Bureau Directors whose offices consistently fail to meet the standards of quality service every

RED TAPE BATTLE TO HIGH COURT Balili lot sale papers were elusive Cebu Daily News 7:20 am | Sunday, May 29th, 2011

Theres no room for cavalier treatment of the publics right to know. Four days before resigning as Ombudsman, Merceditas Gutierrez dismissed the petition of Cebu lawyers who complained that public documents on the Balili land deal were not released to them. The lawyers went to the Supreme Court last Friday to challenge the decision. Lawyers Gloria Estenzo-Ramos and Benjamin Cabrido said their petition for certiorari was one of the few cases where a citizens use of the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA) or 2007 would be tested.

The lawyers, who are co-founders of the Phil. Earth Justice Center (PEJC), asked the court to declare void and unconstitutional the Ombudsmans decision to dismiss an administrative complaint filed in 2009 against Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and members of the Provincial Board over access to the Balili property papers. At the time, the controversy over the 24.7hectare Balili resort was just starting to heat up over allegations that part of the land bought in Naga City was underwater or

The environment lawyers invoked Republic Act 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act which says applications or requests to government offices must be responded to in five days for simple transactions and 10 days for complex transactions. Ramos and Cabrido said their pursuit showed the vital documents to be elusive.

They

wrote to the governor and the PB in July 2, 2009, asking for copies of the Memorandum of Agreement between the Korean Electric Company and the Province of Cebu about its plan to host an ash disposal facility in the Balili property, as well as the Deed of Sale, and Statements of Income and Expenditures of the Province for the past three years.

A second letter was sent July 31. Both letters warned that violating the ARTA could mean sanction of 30 days suspension for the first offense and 3 months suspension for the second offense. There was no reply to both letters. When the lawyers sent a staff representative to the Capitol, she was referred from one office to another with no results.

After that, the lawyers filed a case with the Visayas Deputy Ombudsman. Ombudsman Gutierrez on April 25 dismissed the complaint, four days before handing her resignation to President Aquino. She agreed with the Capitols argument that the ARTA covers employees in the frontline services or those involved in the processing of applications and other documents.

She adopted the provinces stand that they didnt ignore the request of the two environment lawyers since Capitol consultant Rory Jon Sepulveda in mid-August announced in a press conference the availability of the documents and asked the lawyers to get them from the office. Ramos and Cabrido, in their petition for certiorari before the Supreme Court, said the respondents should be held liable for violating the Anti-Red Tape Act and Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. They said the Ombudsman gravely abused her discretion and took lightly the clear provisions of law about the duty of public officials.

Under Section 5 (a) and (e) of RA 6713, Duties of Public Officials and Employees, government personnel are under obligation to: act promptly on letters and requests within 15 working days from receipt sent by the public as well as make documents accessible to the public and readily available for inspection within reasonable working hours. They stressed the importance of the AntiRed Tape Act as a highly empowering law to promote good public service.

If properly implemented by government agencies and vigorously asserted by citizens, ARTA can be a key tool for improving not just efficiency in public service and the waning public trust in government, but also the countrys global competitiveness, they said. Ramos and Cabrido said the notorious inefficiency and red tape in Philippine bureaucracy have long hampered both human and economic development in our

This Petition is of supreme significance as it touches at the core of a public interest issue the cavalier treatment of which, if allowed to be perpetuated and institutionalized, will render nugatory the avowed State policies of full public disclosure of all its transactions involving public interest, honesty and integrity in the public service, they said. Aside from Governor Garcia, named respondents in the complaint are Board Members Julian Daan, Wilfredo Caminero, Peter John Calederon, Ian Zambo, and Joven Mondido Jr.

Former Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez used to be one of the respondents but is freed from any liability following his death on May 2. Board Members Juan Bolo, Victoria, Coronimas, Rosemarie Durano, Victor Maambong, Wencesalo Gakit, Bea Calderon, Teresita Celis and Alfredo Ouano are not impleaded as respondents because they are no longer in the government.

THANK YOU !

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