The Department of Finance (DOF) and the newly formed Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) have teamed up to develop the government’s automated business and citizen registry systems that would serve as the primary tools in cutting red tape and reducing processing time for government frontline services.

Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran, the head of the DOF’s Anti-Red Tape Team, said he expects the registries to be operational before the end of the year, with government agencies sharing the data in these systems to unburden Filipinos from the tedious processes they usually encounter in applying for licenses, permits and other official documents.

“We are building these systems because we want to unburden our citizens from submitting documentary requirements that we in government already have in our records,” Beltran said. “We want to align what we are doing with what President Duterte wants, which is to make one submission of documents to be good for all agencies.”

Beltran, who was officially appointed by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III last July 18 as the DOF’s anti-red tape czar, said one distinct feature of these planned registries is that these are being developed and designed by young Filipino information technology experts, unlike before when the government would have to tap expensive foreign consultants for its IT requirements.

“They are not just 100 percent Filipinos; it is the young and innovative youth of the Philippines that are doing this,” Beltran noted.

In his first State-of-the-Nation Address, President Duterte reiterated his directive to all Cabinet secretaries during his first day in office last June 30 to reduce requirements and the processing time of all applications filed in government offices “from the [day of] submission to release.”

Beltran said the Business Registry and the Citizens Registry, which will be primarily developed by the DICT, is a lasting solution to the perennial problem of red tape in all government offices.

The Business Registry would be a database of all operating businesses, non-government organizations and cooperatives in the Philippines, while the Citizen’s Registry would provide the government with a comprehensive record of all Filipinos under file in the system.

These systems will allow individuals and corporate entities to easily track and validate their records, removing from them the burden of proving legitimacy, Beltran said.

“We are giving ARTA (the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007) a new and innovative approach,” Beltran said. “Now we are focusing on the citizens, the government’s clients, and how we can make it easier for them to apply for permits and other things they need in government offices by checking requirements online instead of asking them to submit many documents.”

In the DOF, Beltran said agencies under its wing have already taken concrete, short-term solutions to cut red tape.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), for instance, removed three out of an average six documents required for the issuance of the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), while the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC), removed one out of an average of four documents and cut the number of days to process a frontline service by one day, he said.

Beltran said a memorandum of agreement may be necessary among the various government agencies to ensure the appropriate protocols on cost sharing and the use and sharing of data.

All DOF-attached agencies, he said, have ongoing programs to reduce processing time and documentary requirements for frontline services, which are monitored on a quarterly basis by the Civil Service Commission, as provided under the ARTA.

Earlier, Dominguez issued Department Order No, 38-2016 creating the DOF Anti-Red Tape Team and named Beltran as its chairperson.

In his Department Order dated July 18, Dominguez directed the anti-red tape team to formulate measures designed to speed up work-related processes not only at the department but also in DOF-attached agencies such as the BIR, Bureau of Customs (BOC) and government-owned and –controlled corporations (GOCCs).

Beltran’s anti-red tape team is composed of all members of the DOF’s Taskforce/Committee on Citizen’s Charter plus one representative each from the respective Citizen’s Charter committees of DOF-attached bureaus and agencies.

Other members of the Team may also be designated by the DOF secretary, the order stated.

“The main objective of the Department Order is to find ways to enable the public to transact with the Department at a faster pace at least cost,” Beltran said. “The public deserves nothing less.”