Starting June this year, businessmen with grievances involving delays committed by agencies involved in investment and business promotion in the delivery of services can lodge complaints with the newly organized Investment Ombudsman Team (IOT).
The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines and the CCP and the Office of the Ombudsman collaborated this month in laying in place the conceptual framework for the team.
The team will handle complaints of bureaucratic red tape and related matters by any of the agencies composing the Investment Promotion Network in the delivery of services relating to the establishment and conduct of business.
It will also resolve complaints involving “solicitation, demand or request by a government official in exchange of the issuance of licenses, permits and certificates, the release of shipments and cargoes, as well as arbitrary assessment of fees, issuance of licenses, permits and certificates to any person not qualified for or legally entitled thereto, and any delay or refusal to comply with the referral or directive of the Ombudsman emanating from the grievance proceedings.”
The organization of the Investment Ombudsman is the latest of measures being taken to fight government corruption and red tape considered major obstacles to the promotion and growth of investment and entrepreneurial initiatives in the country.
Earlier, the Department of the Budget released a P600 million fund for the procurement and implementation of financial management system for government agencies that is expected to step up the government’s drive against corruption.
The system will integrate all public financial management processes and enhance transparency in the government’s financial transactions. The system is a government-wide, browser-based web application that will link financial processes together and facilitate their automated management.
Photo: From eyeonspain.com