MANILA – Five industries are pushing for various regulations, including implementing single business identification (ID) system, in a bid to make it easier to do business in the country.
These are chemicals, housing, logistics, power and public transportation industries which are participating in the Modernizing Government Regulations (MGR) program.
MGR is a comprehensive national regulatory reform program being implemented by the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), in cooperation with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
Arnel Abanto, head of DAP’s Center for Productivity and Development, said these sectors are submitting the same documentary requirements to multiple agencies as proof of business registration, and multiple copies to a single agency.
“MGR suggests using a single business ID that can be authenticated easily, in lieu of submitting Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration, articles of incorporation, constitution and by-laws and business profile,” he said during the MGR public forum Tuesday.
Apart from the single ID system, Abanto said these industries also recommended the need to develop an online inter-agency information system or database through which the “business information can be shared, accessed and/or obtained for assessment and verification of requirements.”
He said they also pushed for the strengthening of the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA) and the creation of regulatory reform oversight body.
Abanto added the oversight body will administer and coordinate with regulatory agencies in rationalizing the relevance of potential and existing regulations.
“If there is no oversight body that looks into delivery of these regulatory functions, these are what we are experiencing now –the accumulation of so many regulations and the quality of regulations. We have seen regulatory failures in recent past,” he said in an interview.
Meanwhile, the MGR also supports the goals of sustaining socio-economic growth and making it inclusive through improving the ease of doing business, especially for small and medium scale businesses.
“If you are able to identify those bottlenecks for enterprises to develop and grow certainly, small businesses will be motivated to have their own business,” he added.