Iloilo City barangays are gearing up for the implementation of the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act.

Iloilo City Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion (LEDIP) Office head Velma Jane Lao said the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) has a new memorandum that the Ease of Doing Business should be implemented not only by the city government but also at the barangay level.

“This time, it is expanded in barangay LGUs (local government units). The purpose of this is to promote transparency and accountability in barangays,” Lao said in an interview on Tuesday.

A three-day training for the city’s 180 barangays kicked off on Monday with personnel from ARTA.

They were guided in developing their Citizen’s Charter, which outlines the services available in the barangay, including the 3-7-20 processing day rule: three days for simple, seven days for complex and 20 days for technical transactions, calculated as calendar days and fees.

They were also guided on zero-backlog reporting, indicating that they have no pending tasks, and the Client Satisfaction Measure to show that their clients are satisfied with the services.

“These are the reports being complied by the city government every year. We have to abide by that because that is our service standard or commitment to the public availing of our services,” Lao said.

She said that while there is no deadline, they hoped to see the 180 barangays already starting with their Citizen’s Charter.

They also hoped that all barangays could come up with the standard number of days and time for the processing of desired services.

Lao said the compliance of barangays with the Ease of Doing Business will further improve the level of compliance of the Iloilo City government. (PNA)