Anti-red tape bid gaining traction – DOF exec

The Duterte administration’s drive against red tape has been in place early on and the public is now benefiting from it, the Department of Finance (DOF) (Pictured) said (Photo: Department of Finance/ Facebook)

MANILA –The Duterte administration’s drive against red tape has been in place early on and the public is now benefiting from it, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

In a statement Thursday, Finance Undersecretary and chief economist Gil Beltran said the DOF has made big strides towards addressing red tape by reducing documentary requirements and lessening procedures in at least eight frontline services, initially of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC).

Beltran, who was named anti-red tape czar by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, said seven of the 12 required documents for the processing of Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) have been removed within the first three months of the current administration.

He said BIR now accepts, as an alternative document, the Occupational Tax Receipt (OTR), usually for those registering as self-employed individuals. Government-issued identification cards are now accepted in lieu of National Statistics Office-issued birth certificate.

Cancellation of TIN or private entities’ registration documents can now be done after submitting four of the previous eight documents, he said.

Documents required by the PDIC for the settlement of claims for deposit insurance and claims of closed bank creditors have also been lessened, he said.

The statement said the government also got the support of German development bank KfW Group, which is funding the Inter-Agency Business Process Interoperability (IABPI) program targeted to streamline the process in the issuance of permits for imports and exports from two weeks to at least three days.

Beltran said the program will not only improve the delivery of frontline services but also boost revenues, regional trade links and entry or expansion of foreign businesses in the country.

Part of the bid to streamline government services is the coordination with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to establish the government’s automated and citizen registry system.

Beltran said the DOF and DICT have yet to determine what data to gather from the different government agencies for the automated business and citizen registries.