Hassles and expense in government transactions

Even ordinary government transactions now are prone to bureaucratic red tape, hassles, and more costly, including various permits and clearances.

Spurred by the taxing empowerment by the Local Government Code (R.A. 7160), local government units (LGUs) enact tax ordinances as revenue-raising, and for regulatory purposes.

There’s no doubt that any government exists and is sustained by the taxes it collects. As the eminent Benjamin Franklin once said, these are two basic truths in life: taxes and death.

The national government, through the Bureau of Customs, BIR, DTI, DOTC, et al., exacts the State taxes, fees, and various levies as funding lifeblood. Under R.A. 7160, the province has limited taxing power, like, on land transfers, sand and gravel quarrying, amusement, professional taxes, the business of printing, and franchise tax.

Among LGUs, the cities and municipalities have greater leeway in taxation, next to the State; thus, generating bigger income, but complicate the bureaucratic red tape and more expensive.

At random now from childhood to marriage, to inevitable death … The schools now require for enrolment the birth certificate of the child from the town/city local civil registrar. Some LGUs require the parent’s community tax certificate, upon prior certification of the barangay captain as added burden.

But a couple of years back, as early as the break of dawn, people from the towns formed a long line before the National Statistics Office (NSO) in Cebu City to secure the birth certificates of first grade children enrollees. Obviously then, the birth certificates issued by the local civil registrar (LCR) original records had not been honored. If true, the LCR records from whom the NSO gets its data, appeared then only as secondary evidence, an absurdity that aggravated the red tape and more expense.

Other government offices now seem to honor only the NSO-sourced records on birth, marriage, death, and other data on personal status, than similar info or data direct from the LCRs. The requirements inre travels abroad, taking board exams, etc. are typical examples. And the fees, even for NSO-certified copies are hugely bloated. Even for marriage license which the law sets as affordable, also provides for no further hassle to encourage marriage, over-meticulous LCRs require supporting papers that up the expense.

For instance, while the law allows discretion to observe the applicants of marriageable age by their looks, or on representations of their parents, stringent LCRs require further proof as applicants’ birth records and/or sworn affidavits with documentary stamps needing the notary public and doc. stamps which are over-valued by the LCR personnel, say, from P15 now raised to P25.00. Even on the sideline ante of stamps in other transactions, like, in new application or renewal of business permits, certified tax declarations, the so-called “sinking fund” at the end of the year makes them splurge in office Christmas parties.

City/municipal permits, tax clearance certificates, and other charges galore that are supposedly regulatory, are disguised income-raising measures for many LGUs. They may vary from LGU to another, but none is below the amount of P25.00. Until death, the evils of bureaucratic red tape hound the “victimized” public. Other than the forced “luxury” of barely decent burial, the very poor must come across with the P25.00 burial permit. Is there still a pauper’s burial benefit? The “syndicated” petty scam at any given cemetery among grave diggers, niche maker, “lapida” con artists, and the other ad nauseam, complete the picture.

As if to cap such overall red tape and cornucopia of ever-rising expenses that ironically make dying a “luxury”, an additional “certified copy” of the death certificate is exacted by the NSO at P150 each. If it is the Cebu City LCR who stamps the “certifying”, the same anomalous amount of P150 may also be exacted?