A total of 976 issuances from 12 government agencies, including the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and some of its attached agencies, have been repealed, consolidated, amended, delisted, or retained as part of a campaign to cut red tape and remove redundant, outdated, and cumbersome regulations and orders in government offices.
This is part of the National Competitiveness Council’s (NCC) Project Repeal program, an initiative to simplify administrative procedures and lessen cost of compliance for businesses and individuals by removing irrelevant or unnecessary issuances dating back from the Commonwealth and Martial Law eras.
NCC private sector co-chairman Guillermo Luz said Project Repeal targets “reduced compliance for people in businesses and savings for the economy.”
Of the total issuances and orders reviewed for the third wave of the program, 46 were repealed, 11 consolidated, 19 amended, 708 delisted, and 192 retained.
Repeal means full elimination of a rule or issuance deemed no longer necessary. Consolidation is combining several similar or related circulars into a single order to make it easy for stakeholders to check and follow. Amendment means the issuances will undergo addition, deletion, or changing of certain provisions of a rule or regulation. Delisting, meanwhile, is removing repealed rules that remain listed on government websites or rosters, or continue to be enforced. There are also issuances that are retained as they are still necessary and relevant.
Agencies that participated during the Third Repeal Day included the DOTr, Department of Trade and Industry, Clark International Airport Corporation, Philippine Coast Guard, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, Office of Transportation Cooperatives, Cooperative Development Authority, National Food Authority, Department of Finance-Bureau of Local Government Finance, Securities and Exchange Commission, Sugar Regulation Administration, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
Luz noted that from the previous eight departments and agencies, Project Repeal now has 88 participants from various departments, agencies, and offices.
For each agency, the repeal process goes through a series of workshops and assessments and reviews by technical working groups. The project is also being carried out with the help of a team of professors from the Jose Rizal University and the University of the Philippines Law Center-Office of the National Administrative Register, the latter serving as the repository of all administrative issuances by the different agencies of the government.
Luz noted that the repeal program is not an original idea, but borrowed from countries like Australia, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Vietnam.
By next year, Luz said, they will start case studies to compute the costs of regulations on businesses and government offices, noting that there are also additional costs when enforcing regulations.
Aside from Project Repeal and other programs of government to promote ease of doing business, Luz noted that there are “legislative remedies on the way.”
Both Senate and Lower House have passed the Expanded Anti-Red Tape Act, which sets the standards for the time and process of approving and releasing permits and similar documents, and which makes the application process for business permits and other documents faster and more convenient. The bill, which will amend the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, is already set for bicameral conference. – Roumina Pablo
Image courtesy of Sira Anamwong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
