Gov’t agencies singled out for ‘excellent’ EoDB compliance

THE Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) said it conferred “excellent” ratings on 64 agencies for their compliance with the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Law, while noting the large number of compliance laggards subject to review of their processes.

Late Wednesday, ARTA announced the results of the Report Card Survey (RCS) 2.0, which evaluates agencies’ compliance with the law and singles out obstacles preventing access to government services.

The survey, which was conducted between November 2023 and May 2024, indicated that 7% of the 860 government offices surveyed posted scores of between 95% and 100%, demonstrating their “exceptional compliance and service delivery standards.”

It was the first time for ARTA to issue an “excellent” rating since the first edition of the report card in 2020.

However, the survey also found that 311 agencies (36%) scored below 75%, indicating the need to conduct a review of their compliance with the requirements set under the law.

Some 83 agencies (10%) were given a rating of 75% to 79.99%, 105 agencies (12%) scored between 80% and 84.99%, 81 (9%) were given ratings between 85% and 89.99%, and 96 (11%) scored 90-94.99%.

Despite the large-scale rollout, only 740 offices, or 86% of the 860 agencies, were successfully surveyed, resulting in 120 agencies not being fully assessed due to incomplete data.

“While many agencies have demonstrated excellence, there remains significant potential for growth, especially among those that need thorough reviews or improvements in compliance and service delivery,” ARTA Secretary Ernesto V. Perez said.

“The insights gained from the RCS serve as a crucial guide for both recognizing outstanding service and addressing the gaps that persist in public sector performance. Together, these initiatives can drive the continuous improvement of government services towards a Bagong Pilipinas,” he added.

For National Government agencies, the Department of the Interior and Local Government Region IV-A (Calabarzon) was given the highest rating of 100.64% out of 296 surveyed offices. It was followed by Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) Region I (Ilocos), which scored 100.33%.

Completing the top 5 best performing National Government agencies were the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 12 (99.74%), DoLE Regional Office 11 (99.33%), and the Department of Health Davao Center for Health Development (98.79%).

Meanwhile, the City Government of Imus, Cavite (94.95%); Municipal Government of Santo Domingo, Ilocos Sur (93.2%); City Government of Legazpi, Albay (91.1%); Municipal Government of Salay, Misamis Oriental (90.7%); and Provincial Government of South Cotabato (90.3%) were the top scorers out of the 200 local government units surveyed.

Of the 194 government-owned or -controlled corporations surveyed, Land Bank of the Philippines Cauayan and Talibon Branches received the highest ratings of 100.02% and 99.11%, respectively.

Completing the top 3 were the Philippine Economic Zone Authority-Cluster 2 Joint PEZA Customs Clearance Office – Davao which had a rating of 99.04%.

Among state universities and colleges, the highest scorers were Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology – Main Campus (97.9%), Tarlac State University – Main Campus (93.76%), and Cavite State University – Main Campus (93.52%).

The Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (97.42%) and Bayawan Water District (99.26%) were recognized as the top scorers out of 25 government hospitals and 50 local water districts, respectively. — Justine Irish D. Tabile