Duterte Oks ease of doing business law
President Rodrigo Duterte signed on Monday into law a bill that allows doing business in the Philippines easier and more efficient.
In a ceremony in Malacanang, Duterte inked Republic Act No. 11032, known as the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act.
Authored by Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, the new law amended RA 9845 or the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007.
"This law will introduce simplified requirements and streamlined procedures that will finally spare our people from the intolerable waiting time and long lines in front line government agencies," he said in a speech.
He said one of the most important features of the law is the standardization of the processing time for government transactions.
"From now on, agencies are required to process simple transactions within 3 days and complex transactions in 7 days and highly technical transactions in 20 days," he said.
Duterte said the new law will limit to a maximum of three the number of signatures for applications for licenses, clearances, permits, certifications and authorizations.
Electronic signatures will also be recognized and a zero-contact policy will be implemented to avoid improprieties, he said.
With the new law, Duterte said the local governments are also mandated to automate their business permit and licensing systems, to set up one-stop business facilitation services and to use online unified business application forms.
"This complements the mandate of the Department of Information and Communications Technology or DICT to automate business-related transactions through web-based software and technological platforms," he added.
Zubiri, in a statement, said the signing of the bill into law was timely following the sliding of the Philippines in the competitiveness ranking by the Institute for Management Development.
The Philippines fell by nine notches to 50th in the Competitiveness Ranking index.
Zubiri warned that stiffer penalties could be faced by government employees and officials who would fail to comply with the new law.
In the same event, Duterte also signed the Act Converting the Davao Oriental State College of Science & Technology into the Davao Oriental State University.
"This is in recognition of the institution’s valuable role in molding professionals and experts who have contributed to the advancement of Davao Region and the rest of Mindanao," he said. Celerina Monte/DMS
