by Lovely Carillo
If there is one factor that makes the business sector’s operations more difficult and expensive, then that would be the high cost of doing business with the government due to red tape.
That is why former Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. chair Joji Ilagan Bian expressed how the Land Transportation Office XI’s implementation of its Citizen’s Charter would be warmly welcomed by the business sector.
“What makes the act of doing business expensive is not the high cost of supplies, materials or salaries of employees,” Bian said, adding that red tape is the culprit that contributes to the high cost of doing business, which is then passed on to buyers at the end of the day.
Bian said every hour of every day that a document is delayed by a certain government agency means additional cost to business. In the case of a driver’s license not issued promptly, she said, that would mean extra cost for his employer in terms of salary and cost of goods not being delivered on time because the driver does not have a license.
She said she is glad that LTO 11 has committed to implementing the Citizen’s Charter in their offices in order to fasttrack all transactions in the agency to avoid delay at all times.
The formal launching of LTO 11’s Citizen Charter and Road Safety Advocacy Program at the Grand Men Seng Hotel last December 15 was led by LTO assistant secretary Arturo Lomibao.
“With the LTO’s Citizen Charter, we will be able to reduce red tape and in effect improve our efficiency and our standing even in the international community,” Lomibao said.
The Citizens Charter is being implemented as an offshoot of Republic Act 9485, or the Anti-Red Tape Act, which aims to improve efficiency in the delivery of government service to the public by reducing bureaucratic red tape as well as preventing graft and corruption.
RA 9485 was enacted on June 2, 2007, but implementation has been snail-paced as shown by the fact that LTO 11 is only the fourth region where LTO is implementing the program. Cabase said the Civil Service Commission has chosen 15 agencies of the government to jumpstart the program and LTO is among these agencies.
“The program aims to promote transparency in government by requiring government agencies to simplify frontline service procedure, to formulate standards that are to be observed in every transaction and making these standards known to each agency’s clients,” said LTO central office law enforcement service director Edgar Cabase, Sr.
Lomibao aid “the elements of good governance primarily involve two things; one is the efficiency of internal operations which is already in LTO’s ISO, and the other is through customer satisfaction which is now being addressed through the Citizens Charter.”
Lomibao has enjoined all government agencies to implement the Citizens Charter in their office in order to reduce corruption. “If only all the agencies will follow the Charter, then corruption and red tape will greatly be reduced,” he said.
Cabase said LTO has been focusing on the responsibilities of its employees under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) accreditation for its licensing centers. Even before the Charter’s advent, he added, LTO was already focused on its obligations to the public.
However, the agency failed to include a program that will ensure client satisfaction. This is now being remedied through the Citizens Charter which seeks to make sure client transactions are achieved in a very efficient manner sans the red tape.
LTO 11 OIC director Atty. Jesus Joseph Zozobrado III said they will make sure that the Citizens Charter and the Road Safety Program will be observed and implemented at LTO 11 offices at all times.
Under the Charter, one can expect LTO 11 to post information billboards within its offices to signify the steps required to accomplish transactions involving the office — the people responsible for each step, the maximum time to conclude the process, the documents needed to be presented by the client and the amount of fees necessary.
Bian said when the steps or procedures required by a certain government agency are too complicated, then there is a tendency for different interpretations.
However, she said, this is also a challenge to those in the private sector. “We need to commit not to encourage fixers or corrupt practices,” she said. “There will be no corrupt practices if the citizens will not allow it.
