120 agencies, LGUs have no Citizen's Charter - ARTA

More than a hundred government agencies and localities have not yet established a Citizen's Charter to improve public service, the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) said on Wednesday. 

ARTA Director General Ernesto Perez said that only 65 agencies and localities have received an “excellent” rating based on the Report Card Survey 2.0 Survey Implementation, which rates the services of institutions.

“Kapag ang ahensya ay na-rate ng ‘excellent’, ibig sabihin nito ay fully compliant sa Ease of Doing Business Law with focus on Citizen’s Charter,” said Perez in an interview with Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.

(If an agency was rated ''excellent'', it means that they are fully compliant with the Ease of Doing Business Law with focus on Citizen’s Charter.)

ARTA admitted that many institutions were not informed of the requirement of putting up a Citizen’s Charter, with 120 having yet to set up one.

“Marami pa po ang hindi nakakaalam tungkol sa requirement ng Citizen’s Charter. In fact, of the 860 covered agencies, including local government units, 307 po dito ang kinakailangan talagang magkaroon pa ng review ng kanilang Citizen’s Charter,” said Perez. “120 yung incomplete, ibig sabihin wala talagang Citizen’s Charter.”

(Many are not yet aware of the requirement to put up a Citizen’s Charter. In fact, of the 860 covered agencies, including local government units, 307 need to review their Citizen’s Charter. Meanwhile, 120 others are considered incomplete or they don’t have any Citizen’s Charter.)

To encourage more government offices and LGUs to comply with the Citizen’s Charter requirement, ARTA is pushing for information drives.

“Unang-una po, ini-involve natin ang private sector, private stakeholders, yung ating mga chambers of commerce. Pangalawa po, kailangan natin ng more information drive kasi marami pa rin po ang hindi nakakaalam about this requirement of Citizen’s Charter,” said Perez.

(Firstly, we are involving the private sector or stakeholders, especially the chambers of commerce. Secondly, we need more information drive because many institutions are still unaware of the requirement for Citizen’s Charter.)

According to Republic Act 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, a Citizen’s Charter must provide the procedure for obtaining the service, the people responsible for each step, and the documents to be presented, among others.  — VBL, GMA Integrated News