Dealing with government agencies

THROUGH the years, Filipinos have experienced an everyday nightmare in the form of red tape and government inefficiency. Red tape refers to any regulation, rule, or administrative procedure or system that is ineffective or detrimental in achieving its intended objectives and, as a result, produces slow, suboptimal and undesirable social outcomes. There are many causes of red tape, but one of its major causes is the silo systems in government. According to the Cambridge dictionary, silo systems are a part of a company, organization or system that does not communicate with, understand or work well with other parts. These result in redundancy of processes and requirements, circuitous processes, uncoordinated planning, duplication of functions, and limited data-sharing among others.

Several studies have shown that cutting red tape and implementing regulatory reform are needed to achieve true progress in the Philippines. In a study made in 2010, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said despite national reforms, progress can be hampered by poor quality regulation or poor enforcement at the subnational level. They said this after it was found that local government units in the Philippines exert significant independence in their jurisdiction and struggle with resource and capacity constraints — adding to the complexity of the business environment and regulatory regime in the Philippines. The OECD further stated that there is a strong body of evidence, which connects regulatory reduction reforms with positive economic outcomes.