ARTA receives donated complaints management system

7 April 2022

Today, the Philippine government led the groundbreaking ceremony of the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) Center in Daang Hari, Las Piñas City.

We, at the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), see this as another helpful office and facility that will streamline government services being offered to our courageous and hardworking OFWs.

ARTA is also pushing for the integration of government services involving OFWs into a one-stop shop in line with Republic Act No. 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018. We have also issued Memorandum Circular No. 2020-06 which provides guidelines on putting up a business one-stop shop (BOSS). We are calling on all government agencies to strictly comply with this issuance.

We also believe that the establishment of OFW center satellites, through the directive of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, will help declog backlogs in the central offices.

We are in the last stretch of the term of our transformational and once-in-a-lifetime leader, President Duterte. It was because of his vision and desire to make the Filipino people’s lives easier and more comfortable that ARTA was established.

With this, we vow to do everything in our power to ensure the efficient delivery of government services for our OFWs.

Prior to the launch of the OFW Center, ARTA has also been conducting meetings and hearings with various government agencies that are involved with OFWs.

Recently, ARTA facilitated a meeting with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) where it was agreed that NBI clearances will be automatically forwarded to the DFA for Apostille.

This was done in a bid to address the long queues forming outside DFA offices.

The Authority has also met with the DFA, along with other relevant government agencies, to assist them in easing the backlogs in their passport appointments.

We have also been continuously monitoring the compliance of government agencies with the Zero Backlog Policy that is stated in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the law. As such, we issued MC No. 2022-02, Series of 2022 on 7 March 2022 reiterating the said policy.

The agency has also led meetings with various government agencies to find streamlining solutions to the processes involving blood money claims.

We have also filed cases against 564 violators of the EODB law as of February 2022.

As the President said, the transacting public should not be made to go back and forth government offices. With this, we are stressing that offices should implement the Zero Contact Policy, which is cited in R.A. 11032. We are also calling on other government agencies to put up their Citizen’s Charter and comply with the prescribed processing time, requirements, and fees that are mentioned there.

We are looking forward to coordinating with other government agencies to resolve even more red tape issues with, not only those involving OFWs, but all government services being offered to Filipinos, before the President steps down.

We trust that all other government agencies share our vision of a smarter and better Philippines.

END