Anti-Red Tape Act 2007

Pursuant to the provisions of RA 9465 otherwise known as the Anti-Red Tape Act 2007, CDA Davao had tapped the assistance of the Civil Service Commission Davao to explain the salient feature of the said law. Last March 26, 2009, Ms. Marilyn Dujali, from CSC Davao, had expounded the salient feature of the law to wit :

• Government agencies should establish a public assistance desk that will be manned by "knowledgeable" personnel, even during lunch hour
• Signatories in official forms in government agencies providing frontline services shall be limited to five;
• All applications and requests filed before frontline agencies shall be no longer than five working days for simple transactions, and no longer than ten working days for complex transactions;
• No application request shall be returned without appropriate action, and the applicant should be notified within five working days;
• Clients inside government office premises at the end of working hours or during lunch breaks shall be entertained;
• Applications for renewal of a license or permit shall that are not renewed within the prescribed period shall be automatically extended until the concerned agency decides on it. The automatic extension does not apply in case of expired permits and licenses, and when it poses danger to public health , public safety, and public morals.
• Those who (a) refuse to accept applications or requests; (b) attend to the clients’ needs; (c) fail to give written notice of disapproval of application or requests or impose additional, irrelevant requirements may be penalized for a lighter offense that includes a 30-day suspension without pay and a mandatory attendance to a value orientation programs for the 1st offense.
• For the 2nd offense however, a 3-month suspension without pay while dismissal is meted out for the 3rd offense and perpetual disqualification from public office. Perpetual disqualification from public office is also given to those who have been proven to commit grave offense such as fixing or working with fixers.
• Other penalties included in the law are: for grave offense, they may also be charged criminally with imprisonment of up to 6 years, a fine from P20,000 to P200,000 or both fine and imprisonment depending on the decision of the court.