DILG holds orientation in campaign vs red tape

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Interior and Local Government has conducted an orientation of its project called Comprehensive and Unified Response to Eliminate Red Tape up to the barangay level.

In Daanbantayan town, municipal local government operations officer Abraham Donaldo conducted the orientation the other day which was attended by department heads and barangay officials.

Republic Act 9485, also known as the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, mandates all government agencies and instrumentalities to deliver public service in the most efficient manner for the sake of convenience of the public.

It intends to remove red tape by doing away with cumbersome procedures in the government agencies’ provision of services to the public.

The objective of RA 9485 is to prevent graft and corruption in government and improve efficiency in government service.

This could be done by promoting integrity, accountability, proper management of public affairs and public property; the establishment of effective practices like the adoption of simplified or reengineered systems and procedures.

For the public or the citizens, the benefits are the reduction in time and resources spent on transacting with a government agency or office and enhancing customer satisfaction.

On the other hand, for the government, the benefits are reduction in time and resources spent in processing requests or applications from clients, creating a positive image for the government and building integrity and accountability in public service.

Donaldo said that the main output required by the law is the formulation of the respective offices or in this case, the local government units’ Citizens’ Charter which is defined as “an official document, a service standard, or a pledge that communicates, in simple terms, information on the services provided by the government to its citizens.”

The rollout for Project CURE Red Tape is being carried out simultaneously all over the country as the target date for the LGUs to come up with their respective Citizens’ Charter is by the end of June this year instead of the September 2009 deadline as stipulated by the Act.

Donaldo added that the DILG-7 management team went one step farther, as they intend to extend the implementation of this project to the barangay level to come up with a Barangay Citizens’ Charter. – Gregg M. Rubio/MEEV   (THE FREEMAN)