By Manuel Cayon, June 24 2019; Business Mirror

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/06/24/duterte-to-sign-eo-cutting-red-tape-after-asean-meet/

Image Credit to GMA News

DAVAO CITY—President Duterte’s admonition for government offices to accord due attention and speedy processing of citizens’ official documents would now be mandatory and legally binding after his promise to issue an executive order (EO).

The Chief Executive said he would also encourage aggrieved citizens to name the government official or personnel who would cause delays in the processing of documents.

“When I go back after [attending the 34th Asean Leaders’ Summit in Bangkok, Thailand], I will just write an EO,” he said on Friday night here at the oath taking of his youngest son Sebastian as this city’s vice mayor.

In that EO, government officials or personnel attending to a citizen’s request for official document must list down the things that are to be submitted in connection with the application or clearance.

“Don’t add anything else; don’t tell him to come back,” the President said in Tagalog.

“[If you weren’t able to come up with a list], then you explain to me in writing to your head office [why you weren’t able to list the things and why the citizen keeps coming back],” he added.

Duterte said he has repeatedly reminded government bureaucracy that “when citizens come to you, it has to be in connection with your duties.”

“Then give them a paper containing the list of the things they must comply and produce. And if there’s any correction, request them to leave an address or a cell-phone number where they can be called to submit a more detailed or a corrected [information]. But never tell them to return tomorrow only to tell that the documents were still being processed.”

The President added that the EO would be mandatory for all offices under the Executive branch of the government as “Congress and the Supreme Court are not under my territory.”

“I am [also] encouraging people to name you publicly on 8888,” he added.

He said the Philippines could not expect to develop and progress “for as long as we do not have a clean government, for as long as corruption is there and for as long as there is no law and order.”

“We cannot hope to rise. For every table in the government, be it in the local or in the national, [when a document is placed on the desk of a government office, there’s always grease money]. It’s either they delay [the processing of the paper]…until money is given: plain extortion,” Duterte said.