Having a hard time getting your business permit? Text this hotline

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Ever experienced trouble getting that business permit because of red tape or something “for the boys”? Help is just a text away.

Micro, small and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs) can now text their allegations on extortion and bribery to a dedicated hotline, 09088816565 – and actually get results.

The Civil Service Commission on Tuesday expanded its help desk against red tape by accommodating complaints from small merchants as well.

Dubbed “Walang Asenso sa Kotong (No Progress in Extortion)” or Wasak, the new hotline under the Contact Center ng Bayan aims to improve the local business and economic climate as well by addressing red tape at that level.

“We open these kinds of facilities to improve the people’s access to file their complaints for us to act on,” said chairperson Francisco Duque III during the project’s launch.

The hotline, a brainchild of Senator Bam Aquino, the CSC and other government agencies, will be a help desk for business-related concerns in support of Republic Act 9485 or the Anti Red Tape Act of 2007.

The hotline will be under the CSC’s Contact Center ng Bayan, through which MSMEs can air out their gripes on red tape, extortion, bribery, as well as report government offices causing undue delay in business transactions and projects.

Under the scheme, a complainant may text his concern to the hotline, which will then contact the concerned party for details.

If the query is easily answerable, a satellite 10-man team at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa can forward an answer from a “knowledge database.”

If the report needs an investigation, it will be elevated to the CSC special action team at the CSC office in Quezon City.

The 15-man special action team will forward the complaint to the concerned government office, which will be required to act on it promptly.

The complainant will be informed of the action taken every step of the way, while the CSC’s Contact Center ng Bayan will monitor the response of the concerned agency.

The CSC’s partners are the Office of the Ombudsman, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Justice, Department of the Interior and Local Government, National Competitiveness Council, Bantay.ph, and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Duque stressed the need to push the fight against red tape further.

Although businessmen are concerned with corruption at the top, the day-to-day experiences are the ones that make a mark by affecting their business.

“We must fight corruption at their level, on their daily experiences, to make a difference,” he added.