Palace: Ernesto Perez appointed Anti-Red Tape Authority Director General

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. appointed Atty. Ernesto V. Perez as the new Director General of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), Malacañang announced on Monday.

Perez succeeds Atty. Jeremiah Belgica who served from July 2019 to June 2022.

"I thank President Bongbong Marcos for his trust and for Executive Secretary [Lucas] Bersamin's guidance and support, as well as my colleagues in the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), who are doing the legwork to ensure effective and efficient government service delivery," said Perez after his appointment.

Before being appointed Director General, Perez was ARTA Deputy Director General for Operations since 2019 and concurrent Officer-in-Charge of the agency since June 2022.

Perez was initially appointed to ARTA on December 1, 2018, serving as ARTA's first ever employee.

Before his appointment to ARTA, Perez, a lawyer and certified public accountant (CPA), served as the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) – Consumer Protection Group from 6 January 2017 to 30 November 2018.

He concurrently served as chairman of the DTI-Steel Task Force where he led the investigation on the biggest steel importation in the country.

He likewise served as OIC-Director of the Bureau of Philippine Standards, where he promulgated the development of 108 new standards and the revision of 151 Philippine National Standards aligned with the international standards of ISO/IEC and good regulatory practices of the World Trade Organization (WTO). — DVM, GMA Integrated News