ILOILO City – The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) is fast tracking the setting up of a regional office in Western Visayas for the public to have easy access to its services and offerings.
“Hopefully, by the first quarter of next year we should be able to appoint people and launch our office here in Iloilo City,” said Secretary Ernesto Perez, director general of ARTA.
Perez said ARTA is authorized to set up eight regional offices and the office in Iloilo City will be located at the National Food Authority (NFA) compound in Jaro district. So far, ARTA regional field offices are already operational in Baguio, Batangas, Cebu, Davao, and Zamboanga.
With the establishment of a regional office, Perez said people will be assigned and trained to conduct orientation and briefing and attend to all that ARTA is offering to the public at the regional level.
Perez was in the city to lead the Better Regulations Roadshow 2022 conducted by the agency’s Better Regulations Office on Monday, Nov. 28, which was attended by representatives from the different local government units, national government agencies and other government instrumentalities in Western Visayas.
The roadshow, according to Perez, is a rollout of programs, projects, and initiatives of ARTA-BRO as part of their continuing efforts to enable and capacitate government agencies, particularly in the region to ensure that they comply with the ease of doing business or Republic Act 11032 based on the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. for government agencies to streamline, digitized and improved bureaucratic efficiency.
Perez, who is an Ilonggo, urged government agencies in Western Visayas to use these programs and initiatives being implemented by ARTA aimed to help ensure the efficient delivery of the kind of services that the public really expect from them.
Resource persons from BRO provided updates on the implementation of the Philippine Business Hub, Business Processing and Licensing System (BPLS) Operations Manual, PH EODB and Business Process Mapping Project.
Participants were also briefed on the committees on ARTA, National Policy on Regulatory Management System (NPRMS) and Regulatory Impact Assessment during the one-day event.
The BPLS Operations Manual and NPRMS programs encourage government agencies to adopt regulations and services that respond to the needs of Filipinos. (PIA)/PN
