MANILA, Philippines - Transacting with government offices may soon be as easy as ordering at a food delivery service. You just have to place an order via phone and get your results in no time.

This is one scenario that the government hopes to achieve after it puts up a communication network that will link all government agencies through a central customer hotline, according to Director IV Ariel Ronquillo, head of the legal department of the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

Ronquillo said in an interview that the plan's implementation is already certain, especially after the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007 took effect last September 5.

"Anything that you need and anything that you want pertaining to that government agency (can be addressed there). You just have to dial that number. Parang nag-oorder ka lang ng pizza. Parang ganun lang," Ronquillo said.

Ronquillo was a speaker at a forum organized by the CSC that gathered representatives from various government agencies to orient them on the said law, which seeks to reduce bureaucratic red tape and cut down processing time of government transactions.

CSC Chairman Ricardo Saludo, also a speaker at the forum, said that with this call center type of communication network, an individual who wishes to inquire or have a document processed will only have to call one hotline number, where an operator would redirect the call to the concerned government agency.

"We will interconnect the various help lines and other quick response mechanisms that all our agencies have. The idea is to integrate all these into a call center operation," the CSC chairman said.

Asked how much was needed for the said streamlining and reduction of red tape, Ronquillo said they have not come up with any figure as of this time.

"We have not yet included (information on the funds). It will require a continuing study," Ronquillo said.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed into law the Anti-Red Tape Act on June 2, 2007. The law's IRR was promulgated through CSC Resolution No. 081471 last July 24 and was implemented 15 days after it was published on a national broadsheet last August 21.

Ronquillo said that the call center model would save individuals the trouble of having to drive to the government agency just to follow up their transactions.

On the other, processing time is slashed dramatically, he added. This is because the law directs government offices to act upon a simple transaction or request only within five days and complex ones within 10 days.

Also, the Anti-Red Tape Act limits the number of signatories of officials or employees directly supervising the evaluation, approval, or disapproval of the frontline services that may include request, application of transaction, to a maximum of five signatories.

The law also requires government offices to draw up a Citizens Charter, which identifies the frontline services they offer, documents that must be presented by the client, the amount of fees, step-by-step procedures for application or filing of complaints. The charter must be posted on a billboard or any prominent place in the office building.

Saludo encouraged the participating government agencies to share with the CSC the initiatives that they have already been observing to streamline government transactions.

"We will ask you to submit a report on what you have already done so we do not have to do things that we have already worked on," Saludo said. - GMANews.TV

Note: the top 10 problems of business with the bureaucracy have been identified in surveys conducted by business associations among its members and that it was also been discussed by NCC Working Group Transaction Costs and Flows.