April 21, 2016

Philippines launches Project Repeal; seeks to abolish outdated laws and regulations

The National Competitiveness Council and the Economic Development Cluster have launched“Project Repeal: The Philippine Red Tape Challenge,” which seeks to clean up regulations and legislation by revoking provisions or rules which are no longer necessary or which may be detrimental to the economy.

The project, which was patterned after similar initiatives in United Kingdom, Australia, and South Korea, is focusing on reducing the cost of compliance for businesses and entrepreneurs and the cost of administration and enforcement for the government.

For its initial stage, NCC will be reviewing Department Orders issued by Cabinet Departments and attached agencies. The project will be expanded to eventually cover Executive Orders, Administrative Orders, Republic Acts, and local ordinances and executive orders.

As a collaborative effort, NCC is reaching out to business groups to solicit their position on certain laws that are deemed unnecessary and cumbersome particularly to businesses and the economy as a whole. Submissions by business groups will be reviewed by a Technical Working Group on Ease of Doing Business (EODB). So far, 60 laws have been submitted to NCC for review.

Due to thousands of rules and regulations that have been enacted for over a period running several decades, NCC envisions that Project Repeal will be a long-term and continuous program of the government. NCC believes that repealing unnecessary regulations will have positive impact on businesses and entrepreneurs and eventually boost economic activity and spur inclusive growth.