The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) said on Wednesday since its complaint center was set up in June last year, it has received many complaints against government agencies with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) topping the list.

In a press briefing in Malacanang, ARTA officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Ernesto Perez said his office has received 161 complaints as of June 25.

"For the first four months of the year, we have received an average increase of 72.56 percent. Over last month, we received a jumped of 123 percent," he said.

Of the total complaints ARTA received, he said the "complaint resolution rate" was at 52.63 percent.

"Though we are obviously new, we are not delighted with the increase in the number of complaints. We take this as an indication that people are starting to recognize the functions of ARTA. And we are willing to take an active part in combatting the red tape problem to the mere act of reporting inefficiencies," he said.

ARTA's creation was in accordance with Republic Act No 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Services Delivery Act of 2018, which Duterte signed in May last year.

Asked of the government agencies with the most number of complaints, Perez said they were the FDA, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

Duterte has yet to announce the head of ARTA and approve the law's implementing rules and regulations.

Perez acknowledged that government needs to work harder to catch up with its neighbors in terms of ease of doing business.

"The Philippines still needs to catch up and to be at par with the performance of our neighbors in the Asia Pacific, but we are taking the right steps towards that direction," he said.

"Within the next three years and before the term of President Duterte ends, we hope to fully implement the law and improve our ranking from a dismal 124 out of the 190 economies to top 20 percent (in terms of doing business by World Bank survey)," the official added. Celerina Monte/DMS