Red tape pa rin!

Last week, former Comelec commissioner Goyo Larrazabal posted this tweet:

“A friend renewing his passport in Malaysia: Around 8:00 a.m. – Arrived at the immigration office and got a queue number. Around 8:30 a.m. – the number was called and new passport processed. At 10:00 a.m. – got his NEW passport. Looking forward to the time this happens in @DFAPHL PH.”

Malaysia progressed faster than us over the last 30 years. They also had big problems with corrupt politicians, but it apparently didn’t stop them from improving delivery of public services.

When will we be able to get our passport in two hours? We would be lucky to get an appointment to file a passport application in a month. We must deal with red tape, administrative incompetence and corruption first.

It’s interesting that our economic managers were up in arms over what they say is faulty data gathering by the World Bank team responsible for a report on the ease of doing business. The World Bank showed a steep decline in our overall ranking of 124 (2019), from 113 (2018).

“The DTI simulation shows a much favorable scenario … the Philippines’ EODB score for 2019 should be at least 60 (vs 57.68) and the country’s rank would be in the range of 101-108 (vs #124). Compared with other countries, the Philippines could have fared better with an improvement of at least plus five notches.”

Okay… so scoring positive five notches is a big deal. In fairness to the economic managers, they have really been exerting effort to make it easier to do business in the country. They probably need a pat on the back.

But the reality on the ground shows they have barely made a dent. The joint statement of DTI and DOF on the World Bank report cited the agencies that have supposedly shown improvement. First on the list is the Quezon City LGU.

As a Kyusi resident, that’s good news for me. But even there, it seems not much change is evident on the ground. An acquaintance recently told me of her experience trying to get a building permit from City Hall.

After filing the necessary documents, she was asked to return after a few days. When she returned, they couldn’t find her documents. Someone also in line to transact told her that her documents were kidnapped for ransom.

She was perplexed. How can documents be kidnapped for ransom? She was told that if she gave a ransom, the documents will reappear.

My acquaintance was not in a mood for that horseplay. She had several copies of the documents, so she submitted a new set. I don’t know if the second set of documents were kidnapped too. Hopefully, she got her building permit.

I can believe top QC officials are convinced they must help ease the bureaucratic red tape and stop corruption, but those below are not ready to be deprived of their livelihoods. QC may have the right rules and the right computer systems for easing compliance to regulations. But the same old people run the bureaucracy, so there is little if any change at all.

This is why our economic managers will get little sympathy from the people in their argument with the World Bank. Many will dismiss as simply quibbling the positive five notches DTI and DOF insist is our rightful place among the nations covered.

Red tape is alive and well despite President Duterte’s well publicized vow to cut it and even punish those who fail to quickly address citizen needs. Red tape breeds corruption and that’s one other thing the President keeps saying he hates. But he has also said he has given up fighting corruption.

In a recent economic forum, Dindo Manhit, who heads a think tank on national issues, cited red tape as a major disincentive for investors.

“While bright economic prospects boost investor confidence, endemic corruption and red tape in the government bureaucracy continue to stifle business growth and decrease competitiveness. Last week, the World Economic Forum released its Global Competitiveness Report (different from the World Bank version).

“As in previous years, the inefficient government bureaucracy, alongside the inadequate supply of infrastructure, were among the negative factors that pulled down the Philippines’ ranking. Reducing the cost of doing business should remain a priority.

“The passage of the Ease of Doing Business Act a few months ago is a positive move to attract more foreign investments and improve the country’s competitiveness. The new law seeks to solve the perennial problem of bureaucratic red tape in government and make the process of doing business faster and more efficient. It can help address the decline in the country’s economic competitiveness globally, especially in our region.

“In the end, however, there should also be a change in mindset among our officials and frontline government workers to focus more on the output rather than on the procedures. The Filipino people’s interests and convenience must be the center of business reforms.”

Of course, the World Bank must properly respond to the complaint of our economic managers. There is no excuse for an institution of its stature to base an important report on possibly shoddy data gathering by its researchers.

But beyond the red tape at LGUs and the frontline government agencies, it is the red tape that discourages private sector investments in big ticket projects. NEDA is the number one culprit here. But so are other agencies like DOF, DOTr, DPWH and their attached agencies like the Toll Regulatory Board.

Project reviews take longer than they should and one wonders why. Beyond financial number crunching, these agencies don’t always have the technical brainpower to evaluate big projects anyway. The economic mangers must not discourage big investors eager to help in our infrastructure drive.

We have now seen that ODA and GAA funding is not as fast or sufficient. That makes cutting red tape for PPP very essential.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco