QUEZON CITY -- President Rodrigo Roa Duterte called on the next administrations in the Philippine government to continue using the Central Business Portal (CBP) that the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) launched earlier this year.

The CBP is a single digital platform for registering businesses in the country which ARTA established in partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and other key agencies.

This reduced the length of days for registering businesses from 33 days and 13 steps to only three days.
Secretary Jeremiah Belgica, ARTA Director General, said they aim to further lessen the time and steps needed for registering businesses to only one day by the end of President Duterte’s term.
The creation of the CBP is one of the major provisions of Republic Act No. 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.

“We have this legacy and we hope to pass on this establishment of Central Business Portal, a single site for all business-related transactions, such as securing business permits, licenses, and clearances,” President Duterte said during his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, 26 July 2021.

“This shall certainly elevate our global business standing in the doing business arena and improve our country’s competitiveness,” he added.
In his SONA, the President counted the passage of R.A. 11032 as one of the milestones of his administration.

“Not only did we extend the validity of licenses and passports, we also sought to make long lines a thing of the past by streamlining government processes. These efforts are embodied in the Ease of Doing Business Act, which Congress passed in 2018,” he said.

Belgica said President Duterte’s pronouncements are an affirmation of what the Authority is already doing with regard to carrying out its mandate.

“All of ARTA’s achievements would not have been possible without your vision and political will in enabling us to shake down the ancient, bureaucratic practices of which the government, as well as the public, grew accustomed to,” Belgica said, addressing President Duterte.

“We believe that this national effort to rid the country of red tape will be one of the many lasting legacies of the Duterte administration,” he added.

The President also issued a warning against those who are still committing ease of doing business violations in the government.

He recalled seeing a long line of applicants outside a mall when he was still a mayor in Davao City, which encouraged him to address issues on red tape later on when he became President.
“Ngayong pagka-Presidente ko, sabi ko ayaw ko makita iyan, not during my time. Maghanap kayo ng ibang paraan, ayusin ninyo ‘yan. I do not want people queueing under the heat of the sun. No more queueing, especially in the national offices,” he said.

“Pag ang tao bumabalik (sa mga ahensya ng gobyerno), dalawa, isa, tatlo, then there is corruption there… I’m just warning everybody, there’s still one year to go,” he added.
For his part, Belgica vowed that there will be no let-up in the Authority’s ongoing campaign against fixers and other ease of doing business violators.

“As I have said before, red tape is one of the root causes of corruption in the government. We pledge to continue implementing our snake grab approach in catching anti-red tape violators both inside and outside government offices. We will make sure to slap these criminals with charges,” he said. (ARTA)