The Development Academy of the Philippines’ Modernizing Government Regulations (MGR) Program has rolled out another set of industries to be studied during the Public Forum on Industry Regulatory Reviews held last April 25 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The priority industries listed for 2018 were construction, healthcare, retail and consumer goods as well as a deepening study on tourism and renewable energy.
The MGR Program, now on its third year after starting in 2016, aims to enhance the country’s regulatory framework and develop mechanisms to help improve regulatory quality and coherence while improving Philippine competitiveness through regulatory governance reform. This is in line with the Philippines’ effort to create conditions conducive for businesses to develop, grow and be competitive.
Public forum
The latest public forum was participated in by government agency representatives regulating the five identified industries and representatives from the businesses and industry associations.
Philippine Constructors Association Executive Director Ibarra G. Paulino, the keynote speaker, highlighted the need to enact a law that would create a 30-year master development plan for the Philippines that is free from political interventions once an administration changes.
Paulino also proposed initiatives that promote worker welfare such as providing training levy especially to small and medium-sized enterprises by capacitating their workers with new technologies and modern construction methodologies. He further proposed to the government the development of a more meaningful housing program to uplift the lives of workers and alleviate them from poverty, stressing that this should not be limited to the workers in the construction industry.
Breakout session
A breakout session was also held during the forum, where the research fellows of each industry discussed the current situation of their respective industries and identified issues and problematic regulations that impede the potential growth of businesses.
A two-day consultation workshop on the development of a regulatory management system or RMS was also conducted. The first run of the consultation happened in December 2017 where a different set of participants was invited to provide feedback on the working draft of an RMS.
The MGR Program pushes for an RMS where a standardized set of policies and processes is employed to pursue good regulatory practice among the government regulatory offices.
RMS conceptualization
The conceptualization of the RMS was referenced to different management system standards from the quality management system and anti-bribery management to the environmental management system. Literatures of other institutions were also considered during the creation of the RMS, whose draft standard is now being referenced to a performance excellence framework.
The consultation led by the DAP’s MGR Program gathered comments and feedback on how the RMS will best fit into the Philippine regulatory setting and how it will help improve the quality of regulations that the government implements.
The workshop was attended by representatives from the regulatory divisions of the Maritime Industry Authority, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Dangerous Drugs Board and the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards.
Third consultation
The third consultation is scheduled this coming August, during which a new set of government regulators will be consulted on the applicability, appropriateness and acceptability of the RMS.
The MGR Program will conduct a series of industry dialogues and surveys targeting businesses related to the identified 2018 industries to gather their perceptions on regulations governing their respective industries. Regional public fora are scheduled on July 25-27 in Manila, August 29-31 in Davao City, and September 26-28 in Cebu City. The exercise aims to validate the initial issues to be gathered by the MGR study team from the surveys, dialogues and interviews with key stakeholders while also soliciting additional inputs from the regions to highlight region-specific issues and recommendations.
A final forum will then be held on November 7 to validate the overall and specific draft reports of the study team. Interested participants may reach the activity organizers through mgr@dap.edu.ph and telephone number 631-2163 and look for Ms. Joana Erasga. – Joana Erasga