Two months ago, I attended the hearing of the Committee on Anti-Red Tape (CART) in my hometown. The hearing was convened based on the instruction from the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), a body created by Republic Act No. 11032, that is "tasked to oversee and implement the national policy on ease of doing business and anti-red tape in the Philippines". ARTA is under the Office of the President of the Philippines.
The hearing was about my mother's complaint against a sitting city councilor who ignored our two requests to meet with her to discuss the implementing rules and regulations on the longevity ordinance that gives cash benefits to the elderly who are 80 years old and above.
My mother was turning 90 years old in September, but she could not receive the cash benefits of P15,000 for the elderly aged 90 to 99 years old due to the August 31 cut-off. These cash benefits were distributed during the Filipino Elderly Week on the first week of October. She would have to wait until next year to receive it, and so, we wanted to talk to the councilor who headed the committee for senior citizens about this. The city ordinance that authorizes the cash benefits does not mention any August 31 cut-off. This was what we wanted to discuss because, according to the CSWD staff, the implementing rules and revisions thereto were the responsibility of the councilor.
After a month of waiting for any action on our requests from the office of that councilor, we decided to use the law to remind this councilor of her duties as a public servant.
Republic Act. No. 11032, officially titled, "An Act Promoting Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Delivery of Government Services, Amending For the Purpose Republic Act No. 9485, Otherwise Known as The Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, and For Other Purposes", allows ordinary citizens like us to lodge complaints against lazy, incompetent and unfit public officials.
At the hearing, I asked the presiding officer how many times had the CART been convened to hear any complaint, and she said it was the first time ever this happened. So, there, my mother made history!
The hearing was attended by department heads and representatives of some department heads, but, to our disappointment, the councilor who was subject of the complaint did not even bother to show up. I found this disrespectful to the us, the complainants, and to the Committee. She must have felt that she was above the law. (Now, she has the gall to run for councilor at the next elections!😡).
Filing a complaint at the ARTA can be intimidating as the process tests your patience and determination to see the complaint through. For anyone who loathes bureaucracy, it would test you. But, fortunately, I have the patience of a Tibetan monk and the determination of Carlos Yulo to stick a landing after a three-and-a-half twists at the floor exercise.
Also, the local mayor, who is the chair of the CART, did not attend the hearing. And as my mother's representative, I was surrounded by about 20 city officials and employees who were department heads, staff, a councilor, a lawyer, a cameraman and recorder, and maybe a few ghosts of dead mayors who wanted to watch and listen to my performance.😃
I told the Committee that it was very disappointing that I could not ask the councilor about the things she wrote in her response to my mother. I also told the Committee that, modesty aside, I was a writer and have won writing competitions locally and overseas, and I knew how to dissect a letter. I told them that the letter-response had 916 words but none of them was 'sorry', or 'apology', or 'apologize', or even a 'salamat'.
The consolation we received was that the department heads and the male city councilor present apologized to us and admitted that my complaint was "an eye-opener" for them, and that they needed to conduct a seminar again for their staff to remind them about the real public service, and probably to be extra nice to me when my shadow appeared in the corridors of the city hall.😀
They also promised to take actions to prevent this from happening again to other local citizens.😉
I really don't care if, now, there's a big 'X' mark on my back.But at least, we tested the system and it seemed to work.
Since the councilor did not attend, and did not even apologize, the case had no closure. And since there was no closure, ARTA asked us to prepare a sworn affidavit so that they could file a case against the councilor in the proper court.
But my mother was tired of all this bureaucracy, and we believed that it would be embarrassing to the whole city, and humiliating to the sitting mayor, the Sangguniang Panlungsod and the rest of the city hall employees because, if this case became news, people from other towns would think that we voted for public officials who were lazy, incompetent and useless.😡
Remember this "3-7-20 Day Rule" under the Republic Act No. 11032:
- SIMPLE transactions/communications must be completed by the government office concerned within three (3) days;
- COMPLEX transactions/communications within seven (7) days; and
- HIGHLY technical transactions within twenty (20) days.
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This is the website of the Anti-Red Tape Authority where you can file your complaint:
The email address of ARTA for your questions:
Complaints@arta.gov.ph
#ARTA #antiredtapeauthority #redtape #goodgovernance #corruption #publicservice #publicservants #Philippines
