Keep change constant

Lately, the local economy has been getting notice for chalking up progress “without fanfare,” which is a credit to the administration for rolling up its sleeves in a business-as-usual mode.

Progress is also being evenly achieved compared to the past when Metro Manila was the growth center, and the other regions were mere recipients of the trickle-down effect, which was rare.

Reforms in business procedures would have to take place, however.

An assessment by the business bible Economist on the pace of development pointed to red tape or unnecessary procedures and signatures — a mainstay of a huge bureaucracy — as the main impediment to maintaining the growth momentum.

It cited as an example the Cotabato Airport where a long queue forms daily to pay a P10 tax.

“Having handed over their cash, travelers must wait while three unhurried officials produce a paper receipt and stamp it,” the report said.

“If they could avoid this hassle by having the tax added to their ticket, most would be delighted, even if the tax were ten times larger. Yet this simple reform has not happened, perhaps because it would cost those three unhurried officials their jobs,” the report said.

The situation is repeated in different agencies where the removal of red tape, primarily through digitalization, is being resisted.

Despite a direct order from President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to install automated systems as soon as possible, most of the digitalization programs are not being implemented, and there is strong resistance even at the top levels of government.

A perfect example of a counter-productive obstruction is the Trusted Operator Program-Container Registry and Monitoring System (TOP-CRMS), which was put in the freezer after being shot down by top-level officials.

The scheme would have automated the procedures for cargo handling, speeding up the turnaround time, which would have eased the traffic congestion at the ports.

The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), however, last August placed the final nail in the coffin of the TOP-CRMS after it issued a ruling that provided a cover for the Department of Transportation, whose officials and Philippine Ports Authority executives had a bitter conflict over its implementation.

PPA Administrative Order 04-2021 provided for the implementation of the digitalization program. Initially, ARTA issued a Good Practice RIS with a 36/40 rating for the TOP-CRMS program.

ARTA has not retracted or recalled the rating and has deferred to PPA the decision on whether or not to continue implementing the TOP-CRMS program.

“We don’t know what was the purpose of that ARTA memo or its value or its effect on the previously issued Good Practice regulatory impact statement rating,” PPA general manager Jay Santiago said.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has indicated that the economy will defy global risks and pace the strong growth in the region.

“All the major development observers are seeing 6-percent growth, at least for the Philippines this year. The IMF (International Monetary Fund), the ADB (Asian Development Bank), and the World Bank are seeing quite a good number,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.

The IMF projects the Philippine economy to grow by 6.2 percent this year, while the ADB forecasts economic growth to settle at 6 percent. The World Bank, meanwhile, has pegged economic expansion at 5.9 percent in 2024.

“While everybody was downgraded, or we were downgraded in terms of the absolute level of the growth, still we are expected to perform among the best in Asia,” Balisacan said. The NEDA head was talking about the recent downscaling of figures in the indicators, which are still better than the global average.

Reforms must not stall, particularly on account of the obstructionists and the filibusterers who are working feverishly to keep the old corrupt ways intact.