ARTA speaks out

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The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) and its director-general, Secretary Ernesto Perez, recently sent a statement in response to a column I wrote about the agency’s alleged failure to fulfill its mandate – eliminating red tape in government.

ARTA insists that the agency has maintained a spotless record with the Commission on Audit, with no adverse audit observations, disallowances, or violations of Republic Act 9184, including contract splitting. It said that for 2024, COA’s audit of ARTA’s bids and awards committee confirmed full compliance with procurement laws.

“As head of the procuring entity, Secretary Perez enforces strict adherence to RA 9184 and RA 12009, ensuring professionalization, accountability and continuous capacity building among ARTA personnel,” it said, adding that by benchmarking international standards and engaging in global dialogues, ARTA reinforces the objectives of the Ease of Doing Business Law and elevates regulatory governance across the Philippine bureaucracy.

It noted that ARTA has earned commendations from chambers and embassies, affirming trust and support for its initiatives.

“Allegations of frequent travel prejudicial to official functions are unfounded. Official missions are undertaken solely to benefit the public and fulfill ARTA’s mandate,” it added.

The agency also noted that the recent renewal of the ARTA–British Embassy Manila (BEM) partnership underscores the continuity, consistency and mutual commitment that underpin ARTA’s collaboration with the United Kingdom. (An anonymous complaint from ARTA employees submitted to former executive secretary Lucas Bersamin revealed that after proactively seeking support from the British government, ARTA unilaterally suspended all engagements without explanation and the UK embassy found out about the suspension only through an email sent to ARTA division chiefs, which was inadvertently copied to the embassy, causing reputational harm and embarrassment to the Philippine government. The same complaint also cited several instances of confirmed international engagements with foreign donor institutions, only for Perez to abruptly withdraw participation).

ARTA, meanwhile, denied the claim that it handled only 24 cases. It said that as of this writing, ARTA has filed 283 cases before the Office of the Ombudsman from 2019 to 2025 for violations of RA 11032. “In addition, a total of 267 cases have been filed before the Civil Service Commission from 2023-2025. As of Oct. 31, 2025, ARTA had resolved and closed 31,679 out of 31,936 complaints received from 2019 to 2025, achieving a resolution rate of 99.19 percent. This high resolution rate of over 95 percent reflects the success of the Committee on Anti-Red Tape (CART) Referral System, which goes beyond simple endorsements. Consistent efforts, such as conducting clarificatory meetings for initial complaints, were also carried out. Only when all efforts to resolve complaints are exhausted do cases proceed to formal hearings, where success rates naturally decline,” it emphasized.

In my Dec. 7, 2025 piece, I cited ARTA’s presentation to Congress on its proposed 2026 budget where the agency claimed that in 2024, it had a closure rate for complaints of 97.85 percent. Out of 6,841 complaints received for last year, 6,694 were resolved or referred to other government offices, while 34 cases were referred to the CSC and Office of the Ombudsman.

For 2025, it reported a closure rate of 98.97 percent, as out of 27,898 complaints received as of Aug. 12, a total of 27,644 were either resolved or referred to other government offices, and only 257 cases were referred to the CSC and Office of the Ombudsman. Does referral to the government office concerned mean that the case is closed?

Referral to the CSC or the Office of the Ombudsman does not mean cases have been filed. RA 11032, which created ARTA, says that it has the power to “initiate investigation motu proprio or upon receipt of a complaint, refer the same to the appropriate agency, or file cases for violations of this Act.” And so referral is different from filing. Even Sen. Miguel Zubiri, one of the sponsors of the Ease of Doing Business bill, noted that through the years since the law was passed, the number of cases filed by ARTA has dwindled.

In my column, I also mentioned how the country’s performance in terms of ease of doing business has worsened. According to the World Bank’s 2020 Doing Business Report, it takes 33 days to start a business in the Philippines, while the cost of starting a business is 23.3 percent of the income per capita. However, according to the 2025 B-READY report, it now takes 75 days to register a domestic firm and 106 days for foreign firms, while the cost to start a business has increased to 57-58 percent of the GNI per capita.

In response, ARTA said that the Philippines’ B-READY country profile shows low scores in Public Services and Operational Efficiency, particularly in business lifecycle areas. “These reflect issues such as fragmented government systems, poor data sharing, manual paperwork and a lack of fully digital services. As a result, processes like business registration, permits, and updating company details remain slow and difficult, affecting both local businesses and investors,” it said.

To address this, ARTA mentioned that it is implementing reforms such as expanding the electronic Business One-Stop Shop (eBOSS), streamlining registration workflows and rolling out the PH Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Reform Guidebook. These efforts aim to close service delivery gaps, improve efficiency and boost the country’s performance across all B-READY dimensions, ensuring faster and more reliable public services for businesses nationwide, it explained.

But it noted that the claim that business registration in the Philippines worsened from 33 days to 75–106 days requires clarification because these figures are not directly comparable.

“The 2020 report measured an ideal scenario: a fully informed applicant, no errors and perfect service delivery, focusing only on Quezon City and a simplified model corporation. In contrast, the 2025 B-READY report uses a broader, more realistic approach, reflecting nationwide experiences, operational delays and variations across LGUs. Therefore, the increase does not indicate a decline in performance but a change in measurement standards,” it said.

It emphasized that reforms led by ARTA and its partner agencies have already significantly improved processes, especially through the Electronic Business One-Stop Shop (eBOSS). “Cities like Quezon City, Baliwag, and Valenzuela now issue permits in under 10 minutes, far faster than previous estimates and current averages. The longer timelines in B-READY reflect uneven implementation across LGUs, not the quality of modernized systems. ARTA expects ongoing digitalization, process standardization and the PH EODB Reform Guidebook to further reduce registration times and improve the country’s B-READY ranking by 2028,” it added.

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