text: Senate Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship Committee chair Sen. Koko Pimentel III said on Monday that the appointment of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) head and the release of the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) law implementing rules and regulations (IRR) before the end of the year would be the “best Christmas gift for businessmen who will benefit from faster transactions and better government services as a result of the EODB law” and urged the public to help government “make this new law work.”
  “I welcome news that the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) has already submitted the draft IRR to Malacañang. The approval of these together with the appointment of the ARTA director general will allow the government to begin implementing the provisions of the EODB law. I am hopeful that the Palace will get this done soon, as the President knows the importance of this law,” said Pimentel, co-chair of the Congressional Oversight Committee tasked to monitor the implementation of EODB law.
  DTI Sec. Ramon Lopez announced last week that the agency had submitted the EODB IRR to Malacañang.
  The announcement was accompanied by an appeal to the business community to maximize the new law by reporting inefficiencies in government services.
  “Ordinary citizens, especially those from the business sector, should also pitch in and report the LGUs and government offices that fail to comply with the law.”
  Pimentel stressed that government and the law’s stakeholders should work together to ensure that the EODB law serves its intended purpose.
  “Those of us tasked to monitor the implementation of the law will do our part to ensure that the DTI and other agencies in the Executive fulfill their mandates and meet their deadlines with regard to the law,” said the legislator from Mindanao.
  “Ordinary citizens, especially those from the business sector, should also pitch in and report the LGUs and government offices that fail to comply with the law, so that the DTI and the other agencies involved in the law’s execution, like the CSC (Civil Service Commission) can crack the whip, so to speak.”
  The EODB law amends the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007 and requires all LGUs to streamline procedures for the issuance of business permits, clearance and other type of authorizations by implementing unified business application form.
  The law requires each LGU to establish a Business One Stop Shop (BOSS) to facilitate business permits application, to require the colocation of the different offices or agencies that issue permits, and to ensure that barangay clearances and permits are issued at city or municipal halls.
  “Those of us tasked to monitor the implementation of the law will do our part to ensure that the DTI and other agencies in the Executive fulfill their mandates and meet their deadlines with regard to the law.”
  The law has penal provisions for government employees who violate the law, with penalties that include six months suspension, disqualification from public office, and forfeiture of retirement benefits and imprisonment of one to six years with a fine ranging from 500,000 to two million pesos.
  Among the violations are: refusal to accept application or request with complete requirements being submitted by an applicant or requesting party without due cause; imposition of additional requirements other than those listed in the Citizen’s Charter; imposition of additional costs not reflected in the Citizen’s Charter; failure to give the applicant or requesting party a written notice on the disapproval of an application/request; failure to render government services within the prescribed processing time on any application and/or request without due cause; and failure to attend to applicants or requesting parties who are within the premises of the office or agency concerned prior to the end of official working hours and during lunch break.