The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) and the Office of the Ombudsman should intensify their crackdown on bureaucratic red tape, most especially in local government units (LGUs) where delays usually begin.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, made the call during the plenary deliberations on the  proposed 2026 budget of the ARTA on Monday, November 24.

“Ang negosyo ay nag-uumpisa sa local government business permit, fire permit. Pero ang nagiging problema ngayon are the LGUs, bumaba na sa LGUs ang red tape (Businesses usually start by getting business permit, fire permit at the local government. But the problem now are the LGUs; red tape has gone down to the level of LGUs),” Gatchalian lamented.

“That is why ARTA and the Ombudsman should look at the processes at the local level,” the senator stressed. 

“Red tape is the issue that is discouraging investors from coming into the country, and it’s killing our existing industries and businesses. Alam naman natin na ang red tape at corruption, magkapatid ‘yan (We all know that red tape and corruption are siblings),” he added.

Gatchalian said the Ombudsman and ARTA recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to strengthen their partnership in combating red tape and filing related cases and that is why he expects these agencies to focus not just to combat corruption but also, red tape. 

“We expect that they give more focus not just to corruption but also to red tape because red tape is a source of corruption,” he said.

“Kapag nadedelay ang mga papeles o dokumento, wala nang choice minsan ang mga negosyante kundi sumunod sa mga corrupt officials (When the release of papers or documents are delayed, the businessmen have no choice  but to follow corrupt officials),” Gatchalian said.

Also, during the plenary deliberations on the ARTA’s proposed P519-million budget for 2026, the senator disclosed the top 10 most complained government agencies in the Philippines, which include the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), among others.

Gatchalian said the information is based on ARTA’s report.

The top 10 most complained agencies are the following:

Gatchalian said identifying these agencies is meant to ask them to “wake up and improve their processes.”

“The DBM, last year, came up with a performance review of all government agencies in terms of spending, efficiency, and fund utilization. It's good that our government agencies have something like that so we can be informed,” he said.

“This is objective; we are not targeting any government agency. It is designed for the agency to wake up and improve their processes,” he further said.

The ARTA, he said, had already filed cases before the Ombudsman against 313 local government units for violation of Anti-Red Tape Law.