Philippine graft buster responds

You must know by now that if you’re a businessman in the Philippines, you have to shell out a lot of money to do business in our nation of 114 million.

But for as long as you have the cash, you will get what you need. Business and fire permits and visas to enter the Philippines are just some of the things you can get so long as you pay grease money, as I wrote in my Jan. 7 column titled “Permits, visas for sale.”

I received quite a number of reactions from readers, sharing with me their similar experiences.

The problem is deep and ingrained in our system. Letter senders offered to share with me more examples.

One reader, working for a multinational company, said that the problem is worse in local government units or in the different agencies in the regions.

He said that the Philippines should adhere to international standards to address the problem.

“I think if the Philippines will adhere to the international standards of anti-bribery and anti-fraud, this will help lessen the burden of both private and public to become real partners,” he said.

Another urged Senator Raffy Tulfo, known as a defender of the aggrieved, to launch a Senate investigation on the matter.

But I am fortunate to get a response from the Philippines’ graft buster, the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), an office attached to the Office of the President.

Thank you, ARTA director general Ernesto Perez, for the detailed letter you sent.

Hope isn’t lost as ARTA shared with me the initiatives done by the relatively new agency, which was created in 2018 following the passage of Republic Act No. 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.

Here are excerpts from ARTA’s response:

“Our Office strongly wants to subdue unwarranted delay and unnecessary and unlawful fees, including the delay in inspection and issuance of permits and imposition of the fees that are ‘on top of the standard visa fees’ and ‘higher-than-usual cash payments for fire permits,’ as stated in your column.

“That is why ARTA has been in continued coordination with other enforcement agencies such as the Philippine National Police as we are equally committed to the enforcement of the Ease of