Cayetano to Gov’t Agencies: No More Excuses, Stop Inconveniencing The People, Cut The Red Tape

This was the statement issued today by Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano to all government agencies.

Cayetano said that all government agencies must become “ambassadors” of the “real change” that the people are expecting from the incoming Duterte administration. “It’s time to end the long lines in all frontline services, expedite the issuance of driver’s licenses, licensed plates, passports and other public documents necessary for people to do their work and conduct business,” he said.

“It’s time to end the awful public service which the government is infamous for,” Cayetano added.

The Senator said that he is also supportive of President-elect Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte’s push for a “three-day-window” to process business permits and clearances. Cayetano said that the proposal is part of their campaign platform to eliminate corruption and the barriers for small businesses to prosper.

Duterte and Cayetano are also studying the possibility of crowd-sourcing the best ideas for red tape reduction similar to the what is being done by the European Commission, which holds a competition “aimed at identifying innovative suggestions for reducing unnecessary bureaucracy stemming from European law.”

“We would like to involve the people and civil society as red tape deprives the people of quality public service and in forging positive dynamics between the government and its citizens. Worse, it breeds a deep culture of corruption and indolence that is hard to eliminate,” Cayetano explained.

“We start the process of real change by starting with how the government relates with the people. We begin by providing the people the services they truly deserve from their public servants,” Cayetano concluded.