EDITORIAL - Persistent red tape

The Anti-Red Tape Authority has given Chairman Martin Delgra of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board three days to answer complaints filed by transport network vehicle service or TNVS groups about, among others, the slow renewal and issuance by the LTFRB of provisional authorities to operate.

Government agencies will find the order from the Anti-Red Tape Authority unusual. But the ARTA is a new body, and if it carries out its mandate efficiently, more offices are bound to get similar orders to explain slow procedures. The body was created as part of continuing efforts by the Duterte administration to cut red tape, which has bred corruption throughout the government.

Since the start of his term, President Duterte has repeatedly instructed all state agencies to simplify procedures and make it easier for people to do business with the government. He has given specific periods for processing various types of transactions, from a minimum of three working days. This has been institutionalized in the Ease of Doing Business Act, which seeks to enhance the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007.

Yet the problem persists, as the President himself has noted. In his SONA, he singled out for the continuing existence of red tape the Land Transportation Office, Social Security System, Land Registration Authority, the PagIBIG and Bureau of Internal Revenue.

There are several other agencies such as the Bureau of Customs that keep popping up in surveys for slow processes that promote the payment of bribes. The good news is that the President wants a more aggressive effort to cut red tape. In jest, he has urged people to slap anyone in government who demands a bribe. The better way is to ensure that the government can act swiftly on complaints, with crooks caught and prosecuted, red tape cut, and processes streamlined to plug opportunities for graft.