Fixers still rampant, says anti-red tape

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Neil Jayson Servallos (The Philippine Star) - September 5, 2019 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Despite intensified efforts to curb illicit deals in
government offices, fixers remain rampant and continue to prey on Filipinos
who want their documents released immediately, the Anti-Red Tape Authority
(ARTA) said yesterday.

Aside from forming an anti-fixers task force, ARTA director general Jeremiah
Belgica said many government offices need capacity building to do away with
the need for fixers.

“We need a lot of capacity building because we need to be constantly

apprehending fixers as they are still rampant,” Belgica said in Filipino.

Republic Act 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act provides that government
employees engaging in illicit transactions with fixers can be dismissed from
service.

Violators face imprisonment of less than six years and fines ranging from
P20,000 to P200,000.

People who deal with fixers when applying for documents from any
government office can be held liable under the law.

In several chapters of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, one of five most

complained agencies according to the Presidential Complaint Center (PCC),
Belgica said there are numerous individuals that need to be charged and
imprisoned.

During his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Duterte
threatened to kill officials of these five agencies if they don’t improve their
services. 
The four other most red tape-ridden agencies were the Land Transportation
Office, Pag-IBIG Fund, Social Security System and Land Registration
Authority, the PCC said.

Belgica said an agency not landing in the top five does not mean there are
fewer incidents of red tape going on in there.

“There are so many agencies that are not in the top five but red tape is grossly
manifested,” Belgica said, adding this could only mean the transacting public
does not know how to file a complaint or are too afraid to do so.

The ARTA formed the anti-fixers group after the implementing rules and
regulations of RA 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Effective
Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 took effect on Aug. 5.

Under the law, a simple transaction with a government agency must be

completed within three days.

Complicated transactions should only take seven days and highly technical
cases must be resolved within 20 days. 

First ‘paperless’ agency 

In a bid to become the first “paperless” government agency, the Department
of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) signed a
memorandum of understanding with ARTA to intensify the implementation of
RA 11032, which seeks to automate government systems and avoid delays in
issuance of permits.

Under the agreement, the DICT will develop the Philippine Business Databank
and the Central Business Portal, which are both essential initiatives in
automating and digitizing government systems and services.

The agencies are also planning to create a national modernization plan, which
will allow government agencies to operate digitally.

Deemed approved
Complaints regarding thousands of applications for drugs and food products
pending before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prompted the ARTA
to seek automatic approval of these documents.
Data from the ARTA showed there are at least 20,000 and 15,000 pending
applications for drugs and food products, respectively, before the FDA. 

Of the number, some 2,000 to 3,000 drugs and about 2,000 food products are
already in the market, although their applications for renewal remain pending.

Belgica said the ARTA would issue a formal order to have these applications
automatically approved. 

“There are a lot of products that we already see as harmless for public
consumption if the FDA approves them,” Belgica said at the Kapihan sa
Manila Bay news forum yesterday.

A meeting between the ARTA and FDA on Monday showed there are 2,083
renewal cases for existing drugs that have been with the FDA beyond the
accepted number of days as provided under RA 11032.

“It’s just that their registration expired. It only needs renewal, so what else
needs investigation? If nothing changed in the product, then it’s already
deemed approved,” Belgica said, adding the products should only be
subjected to post-evaluations.

The ARTA is currently waiting for the FDA to submit a complete list of pending
product applications.

Belgica said they received reports that fixers are victimizing companies and
individuals applying for registration with the FDA.

He said this could be one of the reasons  why applications have been stalled.

Belgica said one of the problems that contributed to the FDA backlog are false
information about the products being applied for registration.

Companies are required to submit an affidavit of undertaking, which means

that any fake information about the product will result in the filing of perjury
cases against them.

(https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/09/05/1949255/fixers-still-rampant-says-anti-red-tape-
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