Gov’t told to end red tape

MANILA, Philippines - Lawmakers called on government agencies yesterday to eradicate red tape and impose sanctions on officials who complicate transactions, to improve the quality of services to the public and attract investments.

Senatorial candidates Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara and Cagayan Rep. Jack Enrile said red tape is often overlooked or ignored because it involves complicated details of government transactions.

“We should punish inefficient and corrupt agencies. Their heads must accept responsibility. They must immediately show results or quit,” Angara said, reacting to the result of the Report Card Survey by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) showing a number of government offices flunking standards set by the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA) of 2007.

“Red tape is killing us in so many ways – it discourages people from being entrepreneurs because they don’t want to deal with the government, and it discourages investors who prefer to do business in friendlier jurisdictions,” he added.

Angara said the ARTA requires each agency to have a Citizen’s Charter, which describes the step-by-step procedure for availing of a particular service and the guaranteed performance level expected, including the maximum time for processing transactions.

Under the charter, applications or requests must be acted upon within five working days from the date of receipt for simple transactions and 10 working days for complex transactions.

The charter also provides that fixing and collusion with fixers for economic and other gains is considered a grave offense, punishable with dismissal and perpetual disqualification from public service.

Fixers will be charged with imprisonment not exceeding six years or a fine of not less than P20,000 but not more than P200,000 or both at the discretion of the court.

“The Anti-Red Tape Act is among the many laws that address graft and corruption in our country. All we need to ensure now is its proper implementation. Such measure promotes a culture of efficiency and transparency which is sadly missing in our government and in our culture,” Angara observed.

For his part, Enrile said there is a need to improve government services at all levels “to gain the trust and respect of the citizenry” and government personnel should “render the best possible services to the citizenry as they are being paid by taxpayers’ money.”