Government agencies, spearheaded by the Anti Red Tape Authority (ARTA), signed a Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) for the conduct of Philippine Ease of Doing Business (PH EODB) Reporting System to further boost efforts to cut government bureaucratic red tape down to the local government units (LGUs).
The PH EODB Reporting System, a localized version of the discontinued World Bank’s EODB survey among economies, seeks to measure the quality of regulatory practices that impact the business climate and ease of doing business in the country, across the life cycle of a business. It will also be used to measure compliance with the provisions of RA 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business Act by national government agencies, LGUs, and other government instrumentalities performing business-related transactions, covered under the law.
At the virtual signing, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon M. Lopez, urged ARTA and the Technical Working Group to fast-track the development and implementation of the localized EODB Reporting System so that initial findings can be released ideally before June this year.
Lopez, who is also chairman of the ARTA Council, cited the importance of coming up with the Philippine’s own EODB stressing that improvement in this area is “critical and it redounds to a more comfortable life for our people.”
With this initiative, Lopez said, ARTA has clearly connected regulatory environment with economic outcomes. “By having a system in place for regulatory review, assessment and monitoring, the quality and effectiveness of government reforms that affect business operations can be evaluated more accurately. It will help us identify reform successes and areas for improvement,” said Lopez.
Through this initiative, firms doing in the country can expect to better business regulations unriddled with red tape in a sound regulatory environment. “More than that, it will inspire in us a mindset for continuous reforms to spur business activity—reforms that keep in step with advances in technology and innovation,” he said.
The DTI chief also suggested some areas that need to be considered. First, he said, the need to have a framework for the indicator system, particularly one that will support a Sustainable Business Policy Index.
Such a framework shall stress social and environmental sustainability, which is not new since the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI), which the DTI is managing, recently added a 5th pillar on resiliency.
Second, there is a need to measure impact. Lopez stressed that beyond measuring steps, processing time and cost, the reporting system may include impact indicators. For starting a business, for instance, indicators on the increase in the number of business registrations because of reforms may be included.
Thirdly, he urged to simplify data collection procedures. Given time constraints, he said, the team may wish to consider simple and practical data collection methodology and harness existing surveys and monitoring projects by the agencies.
Lastly, Lopez called for a need for third party validation. The private sector members of the Technical Working Group (TWG) as well as other private sector organizations may be tapped to identify priority areas as well as participate in the surveys that will be developed as part of the reporting system.
“Developing a local EODB Reporting System is a major endeavor that would require the cooperation, skills and time of various agencies,” he said.
Secretary Jeremiah Belgica, who is also ARTA Director General, said the PH EODB Reporting System will be a more responsive and more contextualized competition not only against neighboring countries within the region and elsewhere, but more so in the local setting: in government agencies and between local government units.
He stressed that competition is always one of the bedrock or is always one of the fundamental principles of an increasing competitive, free market. “We will be able to achieve a leaner and a more streamlined processes when it comes to our doing business in our country,” he said.
Meanwhile, ARTA Deputy Director Ernesto Perez said that unlike the WB EODB, the Philippine version will not be confined in Quezon City as it will pilot in other LGUs like Paranaque, Pasay, Pasig, Valenzuela, and other LGUs outside of Metro Manila.