Powerless authority

Among government agencies, the Anti-Red Tape Authority (Arta) stands out as a regulator without the requisite powers to do so. Established as an agency with the mandate to improve the ease of doing business by cutting through irksome bureaucracy, it, however, lacks the teeth to achieve its objective.

As things stand, government agencies can simply take note of Arta’s findings and leave them as they are, or take up the recommendations and implement changes in their setup. But it is all up to the government agencies. The law empowers Arta only as far as issuing a notice of warning to erring and noncomplying government employees or officials. But noncompliance with its recommendations is not included in the law’s list of punishable offenses.

This is reason enough to amend Arta’s enabling law, Republic Act No. 11032, commonly referred to as the ease of doing business law, which aims to bring about a more efficient and transparent delivery of government services. It amended RA 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007. President Duterte himself said he wants to put more teeth to the law, after recently reiterating his frustration at the relentless corruption in government agencies and the red tape that has hurt businesses and the public.

Common sense dictates that all government agencies should be mandated to follow Arta’s recommendations to help rid various government processes of red tape. Specifically, Arta wants government agencies to be required to implement its proposals on how to streamline and simplify processes, or have their officials face suspension, even imprisonment, for their neglect or refusal to do so. It wants to make noncompliance a punishable act, administratively and criminally. To strike fear among recalcitrant public officials, Arta is also seeking subpoena and contempt powers, and to be deputized to conduct formal investigations into public officials for violations of the law.

Since the enactment of the law in May 2018, Arta’s functions have been beset with problems. It took nearly two years for its implementing rules and regulations to be finalized. Why the long delay? Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, a principal author of the bill, surmised that many public servants in the bureaucracy had become simply indifferent to the plight of the public and were loathe to change, insisting on doing things the old, slow, and byzantine way.

The records of Arta prove its lack of powers. While it has received nearly 4,000 complaints, it has filed only seven cases in court. The agency has only four lawyers at its disposal out of 200 personnel. Of the 3,924 complaints it received as of Aug. 31 this year, 937 were directed at the Bureau of Internal Revenue (although this has been disputed by the tax collection agency), followed by local government units with 428, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board with 162, the Social Security System with 156, and the Department of Labor and Employment with 129 complaints.

Clearly, Arta should have more personnel to be able to implement its mandate with vigor and effectiveness against a lumbering, gargantuan government bureaucracy. If the government is serious about fighting graft and corruption in its ranks, then it should empower Arta to increase its personnel. Alas, its budget was even slashed in the proposed national budget for 2021.

To address the fears of some officials that Arta might abuse its powers, a proposal has been put forward for Arta to seek the approval of two-thirds of its policy and advisory body before a recommendation can be made mandatory. Called the Ease of Doing Business and Anti-Red Tape Advisory Council, the body is made up of seven members chaired by the trade and industry secretary.

Making Arta’s findings on suggested changes in the processes and operations of different government agencies mandatory for implementation will be a concrete step in lending teeth to the ease of doing business law and the long-term campaign against red tape. A decisive, lasting solution to the persistent problem of graft and delays, deliberate or otherwise, in government operations is the enforced streamlining of processes, with specific penalties for failure of implementation. It would be a major corrective to the wishy-washy setup currently in place, where Arta offers mere recommendations for improvement that are, in the end, all at the discretion of the subject government agency.

Arta’s bid for Congress to expand its powers has been endorsed by the agency’s policy and advisory body. The ball is now in the hands of legislators. If they really want to make Arta succeed in its job of helping cleanse, modernize, and revitalize the bureaucracy, then they should give it real powers now.