MANILA -- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s consistent call to streamline the delivery of government services to the people paved the way for public offices to push for a more conducive environment for investors, an official of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) said on Saturday.
ARTA Secretary Ernesto Perez stressed they are constantly working with various government agencies to fulfill their mandate.
“President Marcos has laid the torch, has ignited the torch. A torch to ignite the call for streamlined bureaucracy and this is friendly environment,” Perez said in a news forum in Quezon City.
“We, sa Anti-Red Tape Authority together with other government agencies – the NEDA, the Department of Budget and Management, the DILG, the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Information and Communications Technology – all of these are working together to follow the directive of the President towards a path for dynamic and prosperous future,” he declared.
Perez echoed the pronouncement of the President to ensure that red tape activities within government offices should be eliminated.
He emphasized that this is vital to ensure that Ease of Doing Business is effectively being implemented that would ultimately attract more local and foreign investors.
“So, we quote of course our President when he said that recently that in whatever government offices red tape be replaced with red carpet – this is to highlight the importance of attracting investors and encouraging existing investors to expand because to have an enabling business environment we have to lay the groundworks to convince business people that in the Philippines we have the Ease of Doing Business.”
One landmark policy that the administration pushed is the extension of the validity of streamlining the permitting process for the construction of the telecommunication and internet infrastructure, Perez mentioned.
July last year, President Marcos signed the Executive Order No. 32 outlining the said directive. Said streamlined effort was initially initiated during the pandemic in 2020 through a Joint Memorandum Circular.
Perez said they will be expanding such efforts to other sectors as well.
“Ang ginawa natin, ang priorities was on first telecommunications and connectivity of course logistics. Now, we also went into iyong housing we tend to focus on it, health, food and pharma and infrastructure,” he said.
“This year po, we are of course under the directive, current focus of the administration is also on responsible mining, renewable energy, water and agriculture.”
Perez committed to continue fulfill their mandate in coordinating with government agencies to streamline and optimize regulatory frameworks in the country, also ensuring that unnecessary cost and requirements do not burden stakeholders. (PND)
