Gil Beltran: A new system will be developed to cut red tape

DOF and DICT up in easing government and business transactions

RED tape and long business and government transactions will soon be things of the past as an automated business and citizen registry systems will be made available before the yearend, an official said.

The system will be developed by the Department of Finance (DOF) and the newly formed Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran, the head of the DOF’s Anti-Red Tape Team, said with the new system, government agencies will share the data in these systems to unburden Filipinos from the tedious processes they usually encounter in applying for licenses, permits and other official documents.


“We want to align what we are doing with what President Duterte wants, which is to make one submission of documents to be good for all agencies.” Beltran said in a press statement.

Beltran was officially appointed by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III last July 18 as the DOF’s anti-red tape czar through Department Order No, 38-2016 also creating the DOF Anti-Red Tape Team to formulate measures designed to speed up work-related processes not only at the department but also in DOF-attached agencies such as the BIR, Bureau of Customs (BOC) and government-owned and –controlled corporations (GOCCs).

Photo by DOF.gov.ph

Last July 25, President Duterte, in his first State of the Nation Address (Sona) reiterated his directive to all Cabinet secretaries during his first day in office last June 30  to reduce requirements and the processing time of all applications  filed in government offices “from the [day of] submission to release.”

Beltran said the Business Registry would be a database of all operating businesses, non-government organizations and cooperatives in the Philippines, while the Citizen’s Registry would provide the government with a comprehensive record of all Filipinos under file in the system.

These systems will allow individuals and corporate entities to easily track and validate their records, removing from them the burden of proving legitimacy, Beltran said.

“Now we are focusing on the citizens, the government’s clients, and how we can make it easier for them to apply for permits and other things they need  in government offices by checking requirements online instead of asking them to submit many documents,” he said adding that this is a new and innovative approach of the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007 or Arta.

In the DOF, Beltran said agencies under its wing have already taken concrete, short-term solutions to cut red tape.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), for instance, removed three out of an average six documents required for the issuance of the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), while the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC), removed one out of an average of four documents and cut the number of days to process a frontline service by one day, he said.

Beltran said a memorandum of agreement may be necessary among the various government agencies to ensure the appropriate protocols on cost sharing and the use and sharing of data.
All DOF-attached agencies, he said, have ongoing programs to reduce processing time and documentary requirements for frontline services, which are monitored on a quarterly basis by the Civil Service Commission, as provided under the ARTA. AJRSP

Love this article? Sharing is caring!