Cut discretion, red
tape, to reduce graft - Chiz
By Office of Senator Chiz
Escudero
April 23, 2013
PASAY CITY – Equating
discretion to corruption, Senator Chiz Escudero said the results of
the Report Card Survey (RCS) of the Civil Service Commission showing
some 150 government offices miserably mired in red tape was a
testament to the deep-seated culture that breeds corrupt practices in
government.
“I have always advocated
that discretion equals corruption and cutting red tape is putting a
stop to discretion,” Escudero said.
Based on the RCS, those who
failed the efficiency test were offices of the Government Service
Insurance System, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Butuan
City branch), Philippine Postal Corp. (Butuan City branch), National
Bureau of Investigation (ARMM and Butuan City branches), Bureau of
Fire Protection (Baguio City branch) and eight branches of the Bureau
of Customs (BOC).
The study was conducted by
the CSC last year.
Escudero said red tape has
been a persistent problem that hounds every administration.
“Discretion multiplies at
the same rate that an official’s signature is affixed to a document,
thus, reducing red tape is in itself removing invitation to corrupt
practices,” he said.
“In a technologically
advanced paperless world, it’s a big mystery why it is still necessary
to have an average of 10 signatures on documents to transact with the
government and to have the signatories decide on the fate of the
person seeking to avail of government service,” Escudero lamented.
He said that while many
private now transact business online, those that seek to secure
permits or licenses still face the ordeal of carrying bundles of
documents to be signed or initialed by up to 30 government
functionaries in some cases.
Escudero cited the RCS
result on 11 BOC regional offices nationwide in which only its main
office in the Port of Manila earned a “good” rating.
“Discretion is involved in
the evaluation and determination of what shipments to withhold or
release, what cargos should undergo x-ray inspection, what items will
have to be imposed additional requirements on top of the basic set of
what is required under the law,” Escudero said.
“There are several areas
that Customs bureau should identify where discretion is present to
allow the crafting of a law to lessen it,” Escudero said.
“It is the job of the Senate
to improve the system through legislation to reduce the instances of
red tape in Customs bureau and in any other agencies,” Escudero added.
He said that agencies should
veer away from resorting to publicity campaigns in improving their
image instead of actually improving the services they render.
The CSC survey was based on
frontline services delivery, service quality, physical working
condition, and overall client satisfaction on government offices.