MAPping the Future

When the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) Law was still a proposed bill, I attended a gathering of local business leaders with Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri as guest speaker. His talk centered on the ARTA legislation that he authored and championed.

To emphasize its importance, the good Senator recounted that during a hiatus in his Senate stint, he bought a small property in the province. The transaction took a long time because a Registry of Deeds personnel was giving him the run-around. Fortunately, he knew somebody who was familiar with that employee. Through the intercession of his acquaintance, the deal was eventually completed.

In the aftermath of his experience, Senator Zubiri got to thinking about the plight of millions of ordinary citizens who, lacking in connections, were powerless against the bureaucracy. He believed something must be done to alleviate their suffering. Thus, the ARTA Bill was born.

Several years passed and I had almost forgotten about Senator Zubiri’s brainchild – until I fell victim to the government’s dreaded service. My case was a simple overpayment of capital gains tax that should have warranted a quick refund. However, the agency involved sat on my request. After more than a year of constantly following up to no avail, I was about to give up.  And then ARTA, officially known as the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 or RA 11032, was enacted into law.

Shortly after, an employee of the concerned agency called to inform me that my refund check was ready for pick-up.

It dawned on me that this ARTA Law has all the potentials to become a game-changer in the lives of ordinary Filipinos.

What are the ARTA’s salient features?

First and foremost, ARTA’s objective is to improve government service to the public by reducing bureaucratic red tape, and preventing graft and corruption.

The Law’s penalty provisions give it teeth, which should instill fear among the bureaucrats and spur them to action. These penalties and liabilities are as follows:

1. First offense – administrative liability with six (6) months suspension.
2. Second offense – administrative liability and criminal liability of dismissal from the service, perpetual disqualification from holding public office, forfeiture of retirement benefits and imprisonment of 1 year to 6 years.

Ordinary citizens are by no means the sole beneficiaries of RA 11032. The Law also aims to make it easier and more efficient for entrepreneurs to start and operate a business. This will be accomplished with the implementation of the following procedures:

1. A single business application form.
2. Online registration for businesses.
3. Standardized deadlines for government transactions.
4. The creation of a Philippine data bank.

Zero-Contact Policy

Another outstanding feature of the ARTA Law is the zero-contact policy. Under Section 7 of RA 11032, no government officer or employee shall have any contact “in any manner”, unless strictly necessary, with any applicant or requesting party concerning an application or a request.

The ARTA Law’s components and provisions appear almost perfect with no room for further improvement. But why then do the travails of ordinary Filipinos and businessmen continue in their dealings with the bureaucracy? Alas, upgrades in government service have been negligible so far. So, what else needs to be done?

I have met and listened to several of ARTA’s current crop of personnel, and I must admit they are a bunch of young, idealistic and knowledgeable professionals. They seemed capable of handling the challenging tasks assigned to their office.

However, one weakness of ARTA, as I see it, is their limited number of personnel. ARTA has about 216 employees; they are expected to cover or oversee about 1.6 million career civil servants, 165,000 non-career civil servants, and 640,000 contractual employees.  The ratio of ARTA’s personnel to total government employees is far from ideal.

Moreover, most of the standardization and computerization of government systems, procedures and databases are still works in progress. Without them in place, it would be next to impossible for ARTA to function effectively.

Accomplishing those mission-critical deliverables would require the cooperation and assistance of various government agencies, including the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the local government units (LGUs).

The National Government’s leadership is therefore essential to push those agencies to cooperate fully with ARTA.  The early submission or completion of the required documents, data and systems will facilitate the standardization and computerization of each of the agencies’ transactions. Those will provide ARTA with the bases for monitoring the agencies’ compliance.

In the meantime, ARTA must have enough funds to go all-out in disseminating to the public its existence and what it can do for them. Even with the existing set-up’s imperfections, ARTA is still a formidable force in assisting the citizenry.

A case in point is a relative who owns a small construction business. The LGU covering the site of his subdivision development project gave him a hard time securing a business permit.  Perhaps, the LGU’s strategy was to tire out my relative so he would give in to a shakedown scheme. But instead of giving in, he reported his situation to ARTA. ARTA forthwith sent a notice of warning to the LGU after which my relative’s permit was immediately released.

Having an agency like ARTA is heaven-sent for ordinary Filipinos, who have been perennial victims of the bureaucracy’s acts of tyranny and abusive behavior. The agency can bring back the bureaucracy’s original role of servant of the people.

How gratifying it would be if simple transactions with the government could be accomplished within a matter of hours, instead of days and weeks. A businessman putting up or operating a business can secure his business permit or licence to operate in a few hours or days, instead of months or years.

If that happens, ARTA would be one of the most popular agencies there is, which would redound to the credit of this Administration. It is like giving the people a “Sumbungan Agency” at their beck and call. What a wonderful world this would be!

[The author is member of the Agribusiness Committee of Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).  He is also the Adviser of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) and is former President of UCPB-CIIF Finance and Development Corporation, and UCPB-CIIF Foundation. Feedback at <map@map.org.ph> and <edgardo.amistad@yahoo.com>].