by  Oliver T. Baccay, September 15, 2015
http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/461442301541/pids-urges-officials-to-reduce-regulatory-burdens

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan, Sept. 15 (PIA) - - The Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) has encouraged government officials to exercise firm leadership and political will in reducing regulatory burdens and improve instead their regulatory management system.

Dr. Marife Ballesteros, PIDS senior research fellow, said based on their researches on regulation policies in the country particularly on business permits and licenses, some of the most frequent complaints of business permit applicants are long waiting time and difficulties in obtaining clearances, slow processing time due to manual procedures and too many requirements of national government agencies

“The role, mandate, and stock of regulations of regulatory agencies should be reviewed to reduce regulatory burden. There should be an oversight committee to ensure a more intensive involvement of the private sector, civil society, academe, research institutions, and media in regulatory reform,” Ballesteros said.

 She lauded the practice of the city government here in streamlining their business permit and licensing processes.

 “Since the implementation of streamlined business registration, we have observed that investors including informal businesses were encouraged to register. They were also encouraged to generate more economic activities for the benefit of our local communities,” said Roger Maddara, city licensing officer here.

 Maddara said the streamlining of the processes in securing licenses and permits generate more revenues and spur the creation of new businesses which lead to the creation of more employment opportunities and more social services and benefits for the citizenry.

 Ballesteros, on the other hand, also informed the public that they are pushing for the implementation of “Project Repeal,” which seeks to eliminate laws that place a heavy regulator burden on companies and reduce the overall competitiveness of businesses in the country. (ALM/OTB/PIA-2 Cagayan)