Belmonte pushes Quezon City Citizens' Charter

MANILA, Philippines - Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has given City Hall heads of departments and offices until July 1 to post and publish the city’s Citizens’ Charter, purportedly designed to institutionalize simplified and less time-consuming procedures that would lessen the burden of the public in transacting business with the city government.

In a directive, the mayor urged city hall executives to immediately provide the City Personnel Office with all information and materials necessary for the setting up of the Citizens’ Charter and to actively, fully cooperate and assist in the timely preparation of the same.

Belmonte has designated the City Personnel Office to lead and coordinate the formulation of the QC Citizens’ Charter to ensure it is set up and appropriately published not later than July 1. The move is in compliance with RA 9485, otherwise known as the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, to improve efficiency in the delivery of government service to the public by reducing bureaucratic red tape, preventing graft and corruption and providing penalties, too.

Pursuant to RA 9485, all local government units in the country, including the Quezon City government are mandated to set up a Citizens’ Charter, an official document, a service standard, or a pledge that relays information on the services provided by the concerned government agency to the public and describes a systematic procedure for the availing of a particular service, and the guaranteed performance level that they may expect for their service.

Overall, the Citizens’ Charter is aimed to improve the government’s delivery of services for the satisfaction of the public.

Belmonte’s directive to heads of departments and offices said that the Citizens’ Charter shall include the vision and mission of the office or agency, identification of the frontline services offered, clients, step-by-step procedure to obtain a particular service, officer or employee responsible for each step, maximum time to conclude the process, documents to be required to clients and why they are needed, amount of fees, procedure for filing complaints, names and contact details of the officials whom clients can file complaints to, allowable period for extension due to unusual circumstances, contact numbers to call for recommendations, inquiries, suggestions as well as complaints.