27 May 2015 Manila, Philippines – The National Competitiveness Council convened leaders from the public and private sector for the Third Annual Ease of Doing Business Summit to present and discuss Game Plan 3.0. The Game Plan is the latest blueprint to streamline government processes and is intended to further boost the Philippines’ rankings in the Doing Business Report published by the World Bank Group – International Finance Corporation.

To underscore the importance of the undertaking, Secretary Gregory L. Domingo, Public Sector Chairman of the National Competitiveness Council and Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry, Secretary Cesar V. Purisima of the Department of Finance, Senator Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, and Guillermo Luz, Private Sector Co-Chairman of the National Competitiveness Council delivered messages and welcomed the delegates.

The summit centered on the Philippines’ performance as the most improved economy in the Ease of Doing Business Report, moving up a total of 53 notches from 2011 to 2015. Various public agencies and private organizations have been closely monitoring the indicators in the Doing Business report. Members of the Ease of Doing Business Taskforce presented their respective work programs and their plans in line with Game Plan 3.0 which aims to push the country to the top third of the global rankings by 2016. The indicators include (1) Starting a Business, (2) Dealing with Construction Permits, (3) Getting Electricity, (4) Registering Property, (5) Getting Credit, (6) Protecting Investors, (7) Paying Taxes, (8) Trading Across Borders, (9) Enforcing Contracts, and (10) Resolving Insolvency.

Two significant reforms were signed and launched last 14 April 2015. Expected to impact the “Starting a Business” indicator, the process to start a business was made simpler and easier as businesses will now just have to go through 6 steps and 8 days, down from the previous process which required 16 steps and 34 days. In line with this, the Quezon City LGU has set up an online portal to facilitate business registration as well. The website was launched for public access last 22 May 2015. This portal could be accessed through www.quezoncity.gov.ph/qceservices (QC eServices).

Another reform expected to impact the “Paying Taxes” indicator is the announcement of E-government initiatives which offer accessible and convenient online transactions for payroll-related payments to Philhealth and Pag-IBIG. This process was also made easier by reducing the number of payments from 36 to 13 per year through online payments to Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines, both government financial institutions.

Several reforms to further streamline regulatory processes are also underway to improve the Philippines’ rankings for selected indicators.

To impact the “Dealing with Construction Permits” indicator, a Memorandum of Understanding was also signed during the summit between the Local Government of Quezon City and the Bureau of Fire Protection to reduce the number of steps and days to process construction permits. The MOU allows the Bureau of Fire Protection to interlink its systems with the Local Government of Quezon City to automatically import information pertaining to the amount of fees paid as basis for the assessment of Fire Code fees and the assignment of BFP personnel at QC Business Permits and Licensing Office and City Treasurer's Office.

For the “Registering Property” indicator, a Memorandum Circular to reduce the steps from 9 to 7 is set to be issued by the Local Government of Quezon city to facilitate issuance of land titles.

For the “Getting Electricity” indicator, the reform to reduce the steps from 4 to 3 by managing the issuance of the Certificate of Electrical Inspection is already in its final phase for approval. This reform is also expected to reduce the processing days from 42 to approximately 35 days.

On-going initiatives are being reinforced to further increase court efficiency and transparency. The E-Court system provides ease of access to court employees and judges to be more in control of their time and activities in connection to the cases they handle. It also allows the public to monitor the progress of the cases handled by a particular court. This project had its pilot implementation in the Regional Trial Courts and the Metropolitan Trial Courts in Quezon City in June 2013. As of 2013 records, the E-Court System has been installed in 45 RTCs and 13 Metropolitan Courts in Quezon City.

For the 2016 report, alternative dispute resolution will also be included in the IFC Measurement for the Enforcing Contracts indicator.

The National Competitiveness Council’s stand remains consistent – a call for irreversibility of reforms, stronger Public-Private Partnerships in institutionalizing these changes, and more engaged citizens in providing feedback for continuous improvement of the systems.