It’s no secret that many associate the government bureaucracy with slow, almost turtle-like movement when it comes to delivering basic services. As if this wasn’t bad enough, this is often linked with a bit of “lagay” or grease money just to speed things up. The current administration, particularly the Department of Transportation (DOTr) seems to have had enough of this and is stepping up efforts to put in place measures to eliminate age-old red tape.
Under the leadership of Secretary Arthur Tugade, the DOTr continues its bid to comply with Republic Act 9845 or the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007. In its report to the Civil Service Commission’s Anti-Red Tape Task Force, the agency said that it is doing everything it can to speed up services to the public.
The Department notes that it is doing its best to resolve concerns, requests, and other transactions as quickly as possible. “We should not make the public wait. What we can solve at our level, we solve at our level. Wala na dapat pasa-pasa. Ayoko ng may mga natutulog na papel,”, says Tugade.
One of the ways by which the DOTr will help ensure that it is listening to the public is via its Digital Media and Public Information arm. With channels such as its Facebook page,(whose followers have increased from 20,000 in mid-2016 to 170,000), the DOTr can easily receive complaints, requests, and the like. These are immediately sent to the concerned agencies.
In line with this, the Department, along with all its attached agencies, has become the first government agency to enroll in the new Freedom of Information portal. This has allowed it to address numerous requests and concerns even faster. And thanks to the magic of technology, bidding processes have been streamed live on the Department’s Facebook page to ensure the utmost transparency.
With all these measures, the DOTr hopes to assure the public that it is committed to providing speedy service that is free of any hanky-panky.
