PRESS STATEMENT ON

EASE OF DOING BUSINESS REFORMS 

BY

CEODBG UNDERSECRETARY ROWEL S BARBA 

 

  1. Last week, the Doing Business Survey Team of the World Bank came to our country to validate the reforms for the 2019 Cycle of the Doing Business Survey. We would like to share these reforms so that our citizens will be better informed on the interventions of government on how to make doing business in the Philippines easier.
  2. You will recall that the Philippines ranking dropped from 99 to 113 in the 2018 WB DB Survey. Since the time we met in November to announce the ranking, the EODB Task Force, composed of 13 agencies have been working doubly hard.
  3. I am pleased to report the reforms made by the various agencies of your government.
  4. On Starting a Business
    1. [SEC] Full operationalization of the Company Registration System in November 2017, which is an online registration for company registrations being operated by the Securities and Exchange Commission;
    2. [QC] Setting up of an Enhanced One-Stop Shop in Quezon City starting January 2018 in Quezon City, which co-located all concerned units/offices in one facility – the Business Permits and Licensing Office, the Zoning Office and the Treasurer’s Office, and the Bureau of Fire Protection – and made it convenient for applicants to register new businesses;
    3. [BIR] Instituting a Single Window Transaction Project where applicants can submit documents and be issued the Certificate of Registration and Authority to Print;
    4. These measures will reduce procedures from 16 to 10 and the processing time from 28 days to 16 days.
  5. On Dealing with Construction Permits
    1. [QC-LGU] Setting up of a One-stop Shop for Construction-related Permits in Quezon City that co-located 3 offices of the city government and the Bureau of Fire Protection;
    2. Making the Barangay Clearance a post-requirement;
    3. These measures resulted to reduced procedures to 8 from 23 and the processing time to 36 from 122 days.
  6. On Getting Electricity
    1. [MERALCO] Online application for electricity connection from MERALCO, including setting up of a MERALCO booth in QC’s One-stop Shop for Construction Permits;
    2. Eliminating the requirement to secure a Certificate of Final Electrical Inspection from the Quezon City Government, which is now issued together with the Certificate of Occupancy;
    3. Procedures have been reduced to 3 from 4 and processing time from 37 to 28 days.
  7. Registering Property
    1. [LRA] Automation of the operations of the Land Registration Authority and the Registry of Deeds in Quezon City that shortened processing time and led to better transparency of information;
    2. In terms of quality indicators, the Posting by LRA of relevant statistics is also a major reform that shows transparency;
    3. Procedures remain at 9 steps but the processing time improved greatly from 35 to 20 days.
  8. Enforcing Contracts
    1. [Supreme Court] Implementation of the automated raffling of cases and electronic case management system under the Supreme Court’s eCourt implementation
  9. That government is serious in promoting ease of doing business is an understatement. We take to heart our task to improve our competitiveness by making doing business in the Philippines easier.
  10. But there are more REFORMS UNDERWAY.
  11. Government is working on the following that will further promote ease of doing business:
    1. Signing into law of the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018;
    2. The amendments to the Corporation Code, which will affect two indicators – Starting a Business and Protection Minority Investors;
    3. The Secured Transactions Bill, which will strengthen the legal rights index under the criterion on Getting Credit;
    4. Implementation of the Unified Employee Enrolment Portal, which is an online one-time reporting system to be established by the Social Security System, the Home Development Mutual Fund, and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation for employees of newly registered businesses. This will reduce the procedures and processing time for enrolment of new employees in the criterion on Starting a Business;
    5. Implementation of the Transfer Assistance Program by the Quezon City government that will streamline the procedures for securing the tax declaration, tax clearance, and for paying the transfer tax – all of which will reduce the processing time for registering property.
  12. We assure our kababayans that we will continue to pursue these reforms because as we increase our competitiveness, more investments will come in, and more jobs will be created.
  13. We hope that our friends in media will help us relay these achievements to the public, and to the world at large to show that the Philippines is always open for business.

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