Gov’t takes aim at red tape anew

The National Competitiveness Council formally launched on Monday an aggressive initiative that targets to repeal or amend an initial 17,300 department issuances that were identified as outdated, redundant or contradictory to help eliminate red tape and curb incidences of corruption.

Called Project Repeal, the effort is also expected to eventually reduce the cost of compliance for both businesses and the consumers, generate significant savings for the economy and further boost the competitiveness of local industries.

NCC co-chairman for the private sector Guillermo M. Luz explained that the 17,388 issuances and department orders identified covered only eight participating agencies namely the Departments of Trade and Industry (DTI), Finance (DOF), Energy (DOE), Budget and Management (DBM), Labor and Employment (DOLE), Tourism (DOT), as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).

Of the NCC’s target, 3,959 orders have already been reviewed. And of this number, 1,900 are in the process of being repealed or eliminated as  these were deemed unnecessary; 2,032 are for delisting (removal of invalid rules and regulations from an agency’s roster of active issuances); 22 are being consolidated as these were found redundant; while the remaining five are being amended.

“The target is to trim the number of laws which the economy is saddled with. We see  many of these rules dating back to the Commonwealth and Martial Law periods,” Luz said.

The bulk were DOF and DPWH issuances.