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Anti Red Tape Campaign to Heighten Government Transparency

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An ongoing program of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to eliminate red tape at the municipal and city levels will promote transparency in public governance by doing away with practices that impede day-to-day government transactions, according to Secretary Ronnie Puno. 

Puno said in a media forum that the Arroyo government’s anti-corruption campaign will get a big boost from the DILG’s Comprehensive and Unified Response to Eliminate Red Tape or CURE project at the local government level, considering that red tape is “the biggest problem” that citizens often encounter in dealing with government whenever they access its frontline services. 

“The anti-red tape program is very important for purposes of heightening our transparency and our anti-corruption efforts,” Puno said. “Hopefully, in time, the people will see the efforts that we are undertaking to correct this problem.”

Besides facilitating the implementation of Republic Act 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Law at the local government level, the DILG is also in charge of instituting measures to minimize red tape at the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), which collects fire code fees and inspects establishments to ensure their compliance with fire safety laws. 

On top of these efforts, Puno has also designated two assistant secretaries and three other officials as “action officers” to lead the implementation of the Arroyo administration’s anti-red tape program in various offices within the DILG and its attached agencies—BFP, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP)

The action officers determine which services offered by the DILG constitute frontline processes or transactions and oversee the reengineering of systems and procedures within the department to minimize the time and steps that the public need for them to avail of such services. 

These action officers are Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs Emeterio Moreno Jr. who is in charge of the DILG Central Office; and Assistant Secretary for Plans and Programs Eubert Gutierrez, who handles the DILG regional offices. 

For the DILG-attached agencies, Puno has named Emilie Regado, chief of the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) Personnel and Records Management Service; Fire Chief Superintendent Nimfa Cuartel, the head of the Directorial Staff of the BFP; and Jail Senior Superintendent Linda Mingoa, chief of the internal audit unit of the BJMP.

Puno also tasked these action officers to set up service standards, to be known as the Citizen’s Charter, in their respective offices. 

Each of them, Puno said, should facilitate the organization of a task force that would prepare the Citizen’s Charter of the office under his or her supervision in line with the provisions of Republic Act No. 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007. 

The Citizen’s Charter of the DILG office and its attached agencies should include the following information: the vision and mission of the government office or agency; identification of frontline services; step-by-step procedure to obtain a particular service; amount of fees covered, if necessary; procedures for filing grievances in relation to requests or applications; allowable period for extension of services due to unusual circumstances; and feedback mechanisms such as hotlines or complaints’ centers. 

Puno also directed the action officers to take the lead in promoting customer satisfaction in the delivery of the DILG’s frontline services and adopting appropriate work schedules to ensure that all of the Department’s clients who are within the office premises prior to the end of official working hours are attended to or served even during lunch breaks or after regular office hours. 

These action officers are also formulating mechanisms to monitor and determine if the policies and guidelines to fight red tape within the DILG are already being implemented. 

Puno earlier announced that the DILG is stepping up the implementation of its anti-red tape project this year and is closely monitoring the compliance of local government units in formulating a Citizen’s Charter that would guide citizens on how they can quickly avail themselves of frontline government services at the community level.   

The Citizen’s Charter, as stated under RA 9485, is a document that contains relevant information on the frontline services and goods provided by LGUs to its citizens and serves as the standard of these local government unit in delivering these services and goods to the public.  

Puno said the CURE project, which is being carried out in tandem with other government agencies like the Civil Service Commission and the Office of the Ombudsman, are among the priority initiatives of the DILG this year to enhance the delivery of basic services to the people, particularly at the level of LGUs.