The Department of Finance (DOF) has forged a partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in developing an automated Business and Citizen Registry System that seeks to enhance frontline services among government agencies and cut red tape.
Finance Undersecretary Gil S. Beltran said the automated registry system will incorporate both the business-registry and citizens-registry records, which will be made available through the system.
The data-sharing scheme is expected to lessen the tedious process that Filipinos go through every time they apply for licenses, permits and other documentary requirements.
“We want to align what we are doing with what President Duterte wants, which is to make one submission of documents to be good for all agencies. We are building these systems because we want to unburden our citizens from submitting documentary requirements that we in government already have in our records,” said Beltran, who is also the DOF’s “antired-tape czar.”
These registry systems, he added, are being developed and designed by young Filipino information-technology (IT) experts, in contrast with previous administrations’ practice in hiring foreign consultants for IT requirements. The registry system is expected to be operational before the end of this year.
The business registry is expected to serve as database of all operating businesses, non-governmental organizations and cooperatives in the Philippines, while the citizen’s registry would provide the government with a comprehensive record of registered Filipinos.
“These systems will allow individuals and corporate entities to easily track and validate their records, removing from them the burden of proving legitimacy,” Beltran added.
The approach is said to make the process easier for the citizens applying for permits, licenses and other documents, since the government agencies can easily check requirements for certain applications online and need not ask for more supporting documents from an applicant.
“We are giving Arta [Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007] a new and innovative approach. Now we are focusing on the citizens, the government’s clients and how we can make it easier for them to apply for permits and other things they need in government offices by checking requirements online instead of asking them to submit many documents,” Beltran said.
The DOF official also noted that agencies under the DOF are now taking steps to cut red tape, citing as an example the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which, he said, has already removed three out of the normal six documents required for the issuance of a taxpayer identification number, and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp., which has crossed out one out of the four requisite documents, and had also cut the number of days to process a frontline services by one day.
Beltran said the rest of the attached agencies of the DOF are currently implementing similar programs to reduce processing time and documentary requirements for frontline services under the watchful eye of the Civil Service Commission, which has been given the mandate to monitor the progress of the government’s antired-tape program on a quarterly basis.
A memorandum of agreement, however, may be necessary among the various government agencies to ensure appropriate protocols on cost sharing and the use and sharing of data, he added.