Lacson aims to back anti-red tape laws by retooling civil service

As if the enactment of his Anti-Red Tape Law was not enough, Partido Reporma chairman and standard-bearer Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has expressed his intention to rationalize the entire civil service system in the country in order to achieve maximum public sector efficiency.

Lacson came across the idea during a virtual forum with members of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Inc., Wednesday (November 3). He was asked which aspects in the existing government bureaucracy does he plan to refine or do away completely.

“I think right now we have a bloated bureaucracy. Something must be done. And, you know, the civil service system in this country is not as good as the civil service system in other countries particularly in Europe,” Lacson replied.

The incumbent senator and presidential aspirant cited his observations in the event of a “hung parliament” under the Westminster system of government where state legislatures still function satisfactorily even in the absence of a ruling majority because of a “very strong civil service.”

Civil servants working in that system are independent and non-partisan, who can implement the decisions of an elected government. They hold permanent appointments and can expect merit-based selection processes and continuity of employment when governments change.

In view of this, Lacson said he wants to introduce some necessary upgrades to the recruitment processes and policies of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to find, develop, and encourage more highly skilled individuals who can work for the government.

“We need to modernize our civil service. We need to create a program to attract the best and talented recruits. Again, corruption is at the center of all these challenges and issues,” the Partido Reporma standard-bearer noted.

Lacson is running for president in the 2022 elections and one of his campaign agenda is to instill bureaucratic discipline across the board in every public office including government-owned and -controlled corporations.
At the heart of his advocacies is the elimination of the culture of corruption, which he championed in some of the successful legislative measures he authored in the Senate, including Republic Act No. 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007 during the 13th Congress.

The Anti-Red Tape Law sought to promote the integrity, accountability, and proper management of public affairs and public property by way of establishing effective practices aimed at the prevention of graft and corruption in government.

Under the law, all government offices and agencies which provide frontline services to the public were mandated to regularly undertake time and motion studies, and improve their transaction systems and procedures to reduce bureaucratic red tape and processing time.

Some of its provisions have been amended and the entire law is now known to the public as the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018, which led to the creations of the Anti-Red Tape Unit at the CSC and the Anti-Red Tape Authority.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)