Anti Red Tape Law

7/30/2019 Anti Red Tape Law

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S. No 25S9H No. 3116

Begun andheld in Metro Manila, on Monday, the nineteenth day ofFebruary, two thousand seven.

[ REPUBLICcr No. 94 85 1.4N ACT TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY IN THE DELIVERY O FGOVERNMENT SERVKE TO THE PLBLIC BY REDUC71\IG

BUREAUCRATIC RED TAPE. PRE\IENTI"TIN GRAFT ANDCORRIJPTION, AND PROVIDING PENAIXES THEREFOR

Be i f eimcted by flze Scnufe und House of Represeiztntives oftke Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION . Short Title. - This Act shall be known asthe "Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007".

SEC.2. DecIai-ationofPolicy. - I t is hereby declared thepolicy of the State to promote integrity, accountability, propermanagement of public affairs and public property as well as

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2to establish effective practices aimed at the prevention of graftand corruption in government. Towards this end, the Stateshall maintain honesty and responsibility among its publicofficials and employees, and shall take appropriate measurest o promote transparency in each agency with regard t o themanner of transacting with the public, which shall encompassa program for the adoption of simplified procedures that willreduce red tape and expedite transactions in government.

SEC. 3. Coverage. - Th is Act sh all apply to allgovernment offices and agencies including local governmentunits and government-owned or -controlled coi-porations thatprovide frontline services as defined in this Act. Thoseperforming judicial, quasi-judicial and legislative functions areexcluded from the coverage of this Act.

SEC. 4. Definition of Teur~s. A s used in this Act, thefollowing terms are defined as follows:(a) simple Transactiozls refer to requ est s or

applicatioiis submitted by clients of a government office oragency which only require ministerial actions on the part ofthe public offjcer 01%employee, or that which present onlyinconsequential issues for the resolution by an officer oremployee of said government office.

(b) Coiiiple,~Transact ions refer t o requests o rapplicatjons submitted by clients of a government office whichnecessitate the use of discretion in the resolution of complicatedissues by an officer or employee of said government office, suchtransaction t o be determined by the office concerned.

(c) Frontline Service refers to the process o rtransaction between clients and government offices or agenciesinvolving applications for any privilege, right, permit, reward,license, concession, or for any modification, renewal orestensioii of the enumerated applications and/or requests whichare acted upon in the ordinary course of business of theagency or office concerned.


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3(d) Xction refers to the written approval or disapproval made by a government office or agency on the application or

request submitted by a client for processing.(e) Officer or Employee refers to a person employedm a government office or agency required to perform specific

duties and responsibilities related to the application or requestsubmitted by a client for processing.

(0 Irrelevant requ&inentsrefer t o any document orperformance of an act not directly material to the resolutionof the issues raised in the request or needed in the applicationsubmitted by the client.

(9) Fixerrefers to any individual whether o r notofficially in:olved in the operation of a government office :iragency who has access to people working therein, and whetheror not in collusion with them, facilitates speedy coinpletioii oftransactions for pecuniary gain or any other advantage orcoiisideration.

SEC. 5. Reengineering of Systems a n d Psocedures. - Alloffices and agencies which provide frontline services arehereby mandated to regularly undertake time and motionstudies, undergo evaluation and improvemeiit of theirtransaction systems and procedures and re-engineer the sameif deemed necessary to reduce bureaucratic red tape andprocessing time.

SEC.6. Citizens Charter. - All government agenciesincluding departments, bureaus, offices, instrumentalities, orgovernment-owned and/or controlled corporations, or localgovernment o r district units shall set up their respectiveservice standards to be known as the Citizens Charter in theform of information billboards which should be posted a t themain entrance of offices or at the most conspicuous place, andin the form of published materials written either in English,Filipino, or in the local dialect, that detail:

(a) The procedure to obtain a particular service;@) The personis responsible for each step;


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(c) The maximum time t o conclude the process:(d) The documentk to be presented by the customer, ifnecessary;(e)(f)SEC. I .

The amount of fees, if necessary; andThe procedure for filing complaints.

Accountability of the Heads of Offices andAgencies,-The head of the office or agency shall be primarilyresponsible for the implementation of this Act and shall beheld accountable to the public in rendering fast, efficient,convenient and reliable service. AU transactions and processesaie deemed to have been made with the perinissioc or clearancefrom the highest authority having jurisdiction over thegovernment office or agency concerned.

SEC. 8 . Accessing l i l .ontLke Services. - The followingshall be adopted by all government offices and agencies:

(a) Acceptance of Applications and Requests -- (1)All officers or employees shall accept written applications,requests, and/or documents be ing submitted by clients of theoffice or agency.

(2 ) The responsible officer or employee shall acl


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which shall not be longer than five working days in th e caseof simple transactions and ten (10) working days in the caseof complex t ran sac ti ons from th e date the r eq ue st orapplication was received. Depending on the na ture of thefrontline services requested or the mandate of the office oragency under unusual circumstances, the maximum timeprescribed above may be extended. For the extension due tothe nature of frontline services or the mandate of the officeor agency concerned, the period for the delivery of frontlineservices shall be indicated in the Citizen's Charter. The officeor agency concerned shall notify the requesting party inwriting of the reason for the extension and the final date ofrelease for the extension and the final date of release of thefrontline servicek requested.

(2 ) No application or request shiil be re tu ne d to theclient without appropriate action. In case an application orrequest is disapproved, the officer or employee who renderedthe decision shall send a formal notice to the client withinfive working days fi.oiil the receipt of the request and/or~pplicatioii,stating therein the l'easoii for the disapprovalinclucling a list of specific requiwinentis which the client failedto submit,.

(c) Denial of Request for Access t o Goveriiment Service- Any denial of request for access to governinent servlce shallbe fully explained in writing, stating the name of the personmaking the denial aiid the grounds upoii which such denialis based. A-ny denial of request is deemed to have been madewith the permission or clearance from the highest authorityhaving jurisdiction over the government office or agencyconcerned.

(d) Limitation of Signatories - The number of signatoriesin any document shall be limited t o a maximum of fivesignatures which shall represent officers directly supervisingthe office or agency concerned.

(e) Adoption of Working Schedules to Serve Clients -Heads of offices and agencies which render frontline servicesshall adopt appropriate working schedules to ensme that allclients who are within their premises prior to the end of


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6official working hours are attended to and served even duringlunch break and after regular working hours.

(0 Identification Card - All employees transactingwith the public shall be provided with an official identificationcard which should be visibly worn during office hours.

(9) Establishment of Public AssistancelCoinplaints Desk- Each office or agency shall establ i sh a publicassist.ance/coinplaints desk in all their offices.

SEC. 9. Automatic Extension of Permits a n d Licenses.- If a government office or agency fails to ac t on anapplication and/or request for renewal of a license, perinit orauthority subject for renewal within the prescribed period, saidpermit, license or ::nthoritp shhll automatically be extendeduntil a decision OF resolution is rendered o n the applicationfor renewal: Pyovided, That the automatic extension shall notapply when the permit, license, or authority covers activitieswhich pose dangsi t o public health, public safety, publicmorals 01' to public policy including, but not limited to, naturalresource extraction activities.

Six. 10. IZry~ortCard Siuvey. - All offices and agenciesproviding front-liiic services shall be subjected to a Report CardSurvey to be initiated by the Civil Service Commission, incoordbiation witl; the Develupinent Acadeiny of the Philippines,which shall be used t o obtain feedback o n how provisions inthe Citizen's Charter are being followed and how the agencyis perforining.

The Report Card Survey shall also be used to obtaininformation and/or estimates of hidden costs incurred by clientsto access frontline services which may include, but is notlimited to, bribes and payment to fixers.

-4 eedhacli mechanism shall be established in all agenciescovered by t hi s Act and the resu lts thereof sha ll beincorporated in their annual report.


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SEC. 11. Violations. - After compliance with thesubstantive and procedural due process, the following shallconstitute violations o f th i s Act toge ther wi th t he i rcorresponding penalties:

(a) Light Offense - (1) Refusal to accept applicationand/or request within the prescribed period or any documentbeing submitted by a client;

(2) Failure t o act on an application and/or request orfailure to refer back to the client a request which cannot beacted upon due t o lack of requiremenus within the prescribedpeiiod

(3) Failure t o attend t o clients who are within thepremises of the office or agemy concerned prior t o the endof official working hours and during lunch break;(4) Failure t o render frontline services within theprescribed period o n any application andlor yequest without due

cause;(5) Failure t o g iv e the client, a written notice on thedisapproval of an application or request; and(6) Imposition of additional irrelevant requ~reinents therthan those listed in Lhe fivst notice.Penalties for light offense shall be as follows:First Offense - Thirty (30) days suspensioii without

pay and mandatory attendance in Values Orientation Prograln;Second Offense - Three months suspension without pay;

andThird Offense - Dismissal and perpetual disqualification

from public service.


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8(b) Grave Offense - Fixing and/or collusion with fixers

in consideration of economic andlor other gain or advantage.Penalty - Dismissal and perpetual disqualification from

public service.SEC. 12. Criminal Liability for Fixers. - In additionto Section ll(b), ixers, as defined in this Act, shall suffer the

penalty of iinprisonment not exceeding six years or a fineof not less than Twenty thousand pesos (P20,OOO.OO) butnot more than Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00) orboth fine and iinprisonment a t the discretion of the court.

SEC. 13 . Civil and Criininal Liability, Not Barred. - Thefinding of administrative liability under this Act shall not bea bar to the filing of crimina!, civil or other related chargesunder existing laws arising from the same act or omission asherein enumerated.

Sllc. 1 4 . A d m i n i s t r a t i v e ..Jiirisdiction. - Theadministrative jurisdiction on any violation of the provisionsof tbis Act shal l be vested iii c it he r the Civil S e m l c eCotiiinission (CSC), the Presidential Anti-Graft Cominissioi~( P A G C j OY the Office of the Oinbadsiiian as deteriniiied h yaplivopriate laws and issuances.

S E C . 15. Inimimiv;D i s c I w E e of Co-Respolidelit/flccli~e~to be a GIGtness. - Any public official or employee or anyperson having been charged with another under this Act andwho voluntarily gives inforiiiation pertaining to an investigationo r who willingly testifies therefore, shall be exempt fromprosecution in the casels where hisiher inforniation andtestimony are given. The discharge may be granted anddirected by the investigating body o r court upon the applicationor petition of any of the respoiideiitlaccused-inforniaiit. audbefore the termination of the investigation: Provided, That:

There is absolute necessity for the testiinony of the)respondentlaccused-informant whose discharge is requested;


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9There is no other direct evidence available for the

proper prosecution of the offense committed, except thetestimony of said respondentlaccused-informant;

b)

c) The testimony of said respondentiaccused-informantcan be substantially corroborated in its material points;d) The respondentiaccused-informant has not beenpreviously convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude; and

Said respondent/accused-informant does not appear to)be the most guilty.Evidence adduced in support of the discharge shall

automatically form part of the records of the investigation.Should the nvestigating body or court deny the motion srrequest for discharge as a witness, hislher sworn statementshall be inadmissible as evidence.

SEC. 16. Iinplementing Rules a n d Regulations. - TheCivil Service Commission, in coordination with the DevelopmentAcademy of the Philippines (DAP) , the Office of theOmbudsman and the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission(PAGC), shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulationswithin ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act.

SEC. 17. SeparabiIity Clause. - If any provision of thisAct shall be declared invalid o r unconstitutional, suchdeclaration shall not affect the validity of the remainingprovisions of this Act.

SEC. 18. Repealing Clause. - All provisions of laws,presidential decrees, letters of instruction and other presidentialissuances which are incompatible or inconsistent with theprovisions of this Act are hereby deemed amended or repealed.


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1 0SEC. 19. Efkctivity. - Thi s Act shall take effect within

fifteen (15) days following its publication in the O&&l Gazetteor in tw o national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,

Speuker of the Houseof Represeii n ives

This Act which is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 2589 andITouse Bill No. 3776 was finally passed by the S!.nate and theHouse of Representat ives on February 8, 2007 andFebruary 20,2007, respectively.

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Anti Red Tape Law