CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)--In upholding better government service through promoting accountable and transparent governance, the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) in partnership with the City Government of Cagayan de Oro held the first Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Engagement with the Business Sector, October 17, at Cronin Hall, here. 

Citing the salient features of Republic Act 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act, Lawyer Lord Anthony Pusod of ARTA-10 said the law aims to promote good regulatory practices, set standards on prescribed processing time, improve government technology, and reengineer government systems and procedures. 

Emphasizing the need to immediately respond to requests or transactions, Pusod said the government agency or office is allowed to observe a processing time longer than the 3-7-20 working days (3 days for simple transactions, 7 days for complex transactions, and 20 days for highly technical transactions) if there is a special law mandating a processing time for the delivery of that particular service. 

On signatories, any document shall be limited to a maximum of three signatures--officers directly supervising the office or agency concerned. "Electronic signatures or pre-signed license, clearance, permit, certification or authorization with adequate security and control mechanisms may be used," Pusod added.

He also reiterated the establishment of the agencies' most current and updated service standards to be known as the Citizen's Charter.

Violations under RA 11032 include the refusal to accept application, giving additional requirements and costs not stated in the Citizen's Charter, failure to give written notice on a disapproval, failure to render within the prescribed processing time, failure to attend to applicants prior to the end of working hours and during lunch break, failure or refusal to issue official receipts, and fixing and/or collusion with fixers.

"As to filing, you can file your cases using the website of ARTA, arta.gov.ph. So upon opening the website, get the QR code, scan the QR code, you can find the 'file cases' there. If you want to manually file, we will establish our office at the NFA building, so you can visit there," Pusod added.

Showing appreciation to the approval of ARTA, CDO Councilor George Goking appealed to the business sector and all stakeholders to 'give more teeth' to ARTA to eventually give the best service to the community. 

He however emphasized the need to unify services saying, "Ang main concern namo ang problema ang barangay clearance, di magsinabtanay. Na'y uban P500, na'y uban P1,000, so nagkagubot-gubot. Dapat ma-harmonize ang mga clearances from the regional to the local. Wa ma'y mahimo sa local kung wala'y cooperation from the regional offices."

(Our main concern is the problem on the barangay clearance; there is a confusion. Some collect P500 while some get P1,000, so it is really chaotic. We need to harmonize the clearance from the regional to the local level. The local level couldn't do anything if there is no cooperation from the regional offices)

The city government here also presented the current processes observed in upholding the Ease of Doing Business where Jason Adaza, chief of Business Permits and Licensing Office, said from processing the new permit within 10 days in 2010, they now release the new permit in three days, and the renewal permit from three days in 2010 to one day in 2020 up to the present.

Digital kiosks are now also used for processing taxes and fees payment as well as the internet online services that can be accessed at https://cagayandeoro.gov.ph.

As of 2021, the city government has already processed 6,803 new permits and 22,557 renewal permits with a total of 29,360 permits.

In terms of speeding up transactions in the Office of the Building Official (OBO), Maria Cnception Alcantara, assistant building official of CDO, said they created the Building Permit Management System to streamline procedures and standardize requirements.

The business sector representatives were also given the opportunity to air out their concerns to ARTA as well as to the city government through a panel discussion. 

Some of the concerns shared include the data security, eliminating corruption, processing time of transactions, alleviating financial crises (during pandemic), provision of business tax discounts, and ensuring implementation of RA 11032 in all government agencies. (RTP/PIA-10)