The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) officially launched the country’s first-ever Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) Manual on Thursday.
The RIA Manual is a reference document that provides the tools, process, and procedures of undertaking a RIA to ensure that regulations are subjected to proper consultations and evidence-based analysis before its issuance.
Simply put, it will help government agencies, local government units, and other government instrumentalities to enact sound and effective regulations that provide the most benefit for citizens and stakeholders without causing any undue burden or cost.
RIA is a systematic process that helps to ensure that existing and proposed government regulations are of good quality. It helps policymakers examine the impacts and the consequences of different policy options.
The Authority drafted the RIA Manual with the University of the Philippines Public Administration Research and Extension Services Foundation, Inc.-Regulatory Support Program for National Development (UPPAF-RESPOND), one of its constant partners in its Regulatory Management System (RMS) efforts.
It was subjected to consultations with different national government agencies and has been used as the reference document for the pilot- testing of the RIA implementation with 24 selected agencies since August.
Secretary Jeremiah Belgica, ARTA Director General, who led the launch of the RIA Manual, introduced it as a “game-changing” reference document that could “shift the paradigm” when it comes to the crafting of regulations and delivery of public service in general.
“Ang regulations ay parang makalat na kwarto, hindi mo alam kung nasaan ang alin… you really need to arrange it and systemize it properly,” he said. “Now, the RIA is greatly beneficial for the people because, by having a RIA prior to the actual releasing of a policy, we will be able to measure already if a policy is actually effective before it becomes enacted.”
“The RIA is a change in paradigm that we are now espousing in our government,” he added. “The RIA Manual could really be a disruption in a positive way as ARTA always aimed to be a positive disruptor in our society.”
Undersecretary Ernesto Perez, CPA, ARTA Deputy Director General for Operations, explained that the creation of the RIA Manual is mandated as prescribed by Republic Act No. 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.
The law states that all government agencies, LGUs, and other government instrumentalities must undertake a RIA for proposing regulations.
R.A. 11032 also empowers ARTA to recommend policies, processes, and systems to improve regulatory management; review proposed major regulations of government agencies using submitted RIAs, subject to proportionality rules; and conduct regulatory management training programs to capacitate government agencies and LGUs to comply with sound regulatory management practices.
The RIA Manual aims to promote evidence-based policies, “fit for purpose” requirements, and inclusive rulemaking and a whole-of-society approach to public service through stakeholder consultations from various organizations and agencies and employing the use of different lenses to assess their regulations. These lenses include Competition Impact Assessment, Environmental Assessment, Gender and Social Inclusion Impact Assessment, and Disaster Risk Assessment, Perez said.
He said that through participatory rulemaking, stakeholders will adopt a “sense of ownership” over their regulations.
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Project Management Specialist Jay De Quiros underscored the necessity of RIA training for government agencies, LGUs, and other government instrumentalities. ARTA, together with the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), has been conducting RIA training for priority government agencies since 2019. ARTA is also in partnership with the UP-CPED in the conduct of RIA training.
Apart from improving services, De Quiros said this could also lead to better relations between the government and its constituents because transacting with the government will be made easier for them.
“I have seen how improving the ease of doing business and regulations in general have improved or renewed government service delivery,” he said.
“Having gotten to know about the RIA some more… I now admire the crafters of the EODB law for mandating RIA,” he added.
UPPAF-RESPOND Team Leader Dr. Gilbert Llanto brought focus on how promoting good regulations is a global effort and the growing need to scrap regulations that are no longer effective and only serve as obstacles to the development of businesses.
Sec. Belgica challenged government agencies to maximize the use of the RIA Manual to streamline and improve their services.
“We’re making a statement here, gumagawa ng statement para sa taumbayan, government agencies na nagbabago na po ang paradigm na tinatawag,” he said.
“The underlying presumption is everyone wants to do a good job… ayaw mo magtatrabaho ka tapos poor job ang iyong output. Eh sino na ba ang nagsasabi kung maganda ang ginagawa mo or hindi? Syempre, ang sineserbisyohan natin, ang taumbayan,” he added.
Usec. Perez echoed this statement and said government agencies must overcome some of the things that they got used to to implement regulatory reforms.
“Maraming challenges, this would require a change in the mindset of the people in government… it requires a lot of political will,” he said.
“The RIA Manual offers a solution to whatever challenges the agency may be facing… enabling them to comply with the requirements of RIA,” he added. “Ang taumbayan naman ang magbebenefit and they will be the sole judge that what we are doing is really good for the country.”
Undersecretary Carlos Quita, BGen. Ret., ARTA Deputy Director General for Finance and Administration, also told agencies to monitor and ensure their compliance to the guidelines in the RIA Manual.
“We have to fully implement its intent and objective so that government agencies, LGUs, and other government instrumentalities are trained in the art and science of RIA in particular and RMS in general,” he said.
“We must see how we are moving forward so that we can ensure that we are proceeding in the right direction and achieve our set goals and objectives,” he added.
Dr. Llanto and UPPAF-RESPOND Chief of Party Dr. Enrico Basilio called the RIA Manual a “living document” that will continue to be updated so that it remains relevant to the public and government agencies’ needs over time.
“We will continue to improve it by looking at the RIA training… We tried our best to come up with the best manual but nagbabago ang panahon,” Basilio said.
The ARTA chief again expressed hope that through the agency’s numerous initiatives in improving the country’s RMS, the Philippines will graduate from the starter to the enabled stage by the end of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s term.
A 2016 study by Derek Gill and Ponciano Intal Jr. enumerated the four levels of maturity in the RMS: starter, enabled, practiced and embedded. For the past 20 years, the Philippines has been stuck in the starter stage.
The RIA manual is available at arta.gov.ph/riamanual
Last 25 October 2021, the Ease of Doing Business and Anti-Red Tape (EODB-ART) Advisory Council endorsed the adoption of the RIA Manual in its 16th Council Meeting. (ARTA) -rir
