Taguig City gov't tops anti-red tape test

MANILA, Philippines - Taguig City has topped a recent survey by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) that was conducted to determine compliance with anti-red tape measures.

According to the Taguig City government, the city scored a final numerical rating of 92.31 percent in its Anti-Red Tape (ARTA) Report Card, with a descriptive final rating of “Excellent” attesting to the overall satisfaction of its clients and stakeholders. The CSC surveyed a total of 46 first class cities.

The score obtained by Taguig is an improvement of its performance rating for 2013 in which it obtained a score of  90.11 percent in similar exercise done by the CSC, and a validation of the  Blue Certification award granted by the Ombudsman in December 2014.

The survey was conducted by the CSC during the period of Aug. 11 to 13, 2015, and released this January 2016 after a thorough evaluation.

Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano said her city’s consistent performance in its anti-red tape program is a testament to the innovations introduced by her administration designed to provide the city’s clients with fast and efficient service.

“We will not stop at this achievement, but we will continue to strive to give better services to our people and our stakeholders. We will continue the excellent services we have been providing to the public,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano said one such service is the Business One-Stop Shop (BOSS) program which is rolled-out by the city government every January to facilitate business permit registrations and business permit renewals.

The CSC survey involved the conduct of unannounced inspection of Taguig City government offices by unidentified survey teams and interviews with clients and stakeholders present within the premises who avail of the city government’s services.

These services include new registration or renewal of business permit, application for mayor’s permit, locational clearance, building permits, and clearances for local employment.

The survey was able to examine the city government’s compliance with the ARTA provisions and the overall satisfaction of its clients. The 92.31 percent overall rating consisted of passing grades in all the areas in the CSC questionnaire.

A perfect rating of 100 percent was obtained in the areas of ID or nameplates, no hidden costs, no lunch break policy, and public assistance and complaint.

In the areas of Anti-Fixer campaign and citizen’s charter, Taguig garnered 98.86 percent and 85.90 percent scores, respectively.

For overall client satisfaction, Taguig obtained a rating of 90.30 percent. The highest rating was on frontline service provider at 94.43 percent, followed by physical setup or layout at 93.97 percent. Basic facilities got a score of 93.10 percent, quality of service at 89.90 percent and client satisfaction at 84.62 percent.

Of the 46 first-class cities covered by the survey, 11 percent obtained an Excellent rating, 78 percent secured a “Good” rating, 9 percent had “Acceptable” scores and two percent got a “Failed” rating.