Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

, FEB 0 2

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL no4 954

Introduced by Representative Manuel Luis T. Lopez

EXPLANATORY NOTE

According to the 2017 World Bank Doing Business Report, the Philippines overall
rank was 99th out of 190 Economies after taking into consideration factors such as,
dealing with construction permits and paying taxes among others. Although there has
been steady improvement in the world ranking of the Philippines, there is still more that
needs to be done. The report used Quezon City as a representative of the whole Country.
In reality however, most of the other government agencies and instrumentalities do not
provide the same kind of service and are not as well equipped as the aforementioned city.

Another problem that must be addressed is the continued existence of “fixers”
mainly in government offices providing frontline services. This is another factor that
greatly contributes to the widespread corruption our Country has been plagued with.
‘This is further shown by the 2016 Survey of Enterprises on Corruption conducted by
SWS, which said that the Bureau of Customs (BOC) received a “very bad rating" while the
Land Transportation Office (LTO) received a “bad rating” from businessmen as the least
sincere agencies in fighting corruption.

Thus, this bill seeks to address corruption in frontline government transactions as
well as to make conducting business more efficient by providing a “cash le
scheme. This bill would be removing the role of middlemen as well as addr
of conducting transactions without the necessary authorized receipts.

ion
sing the issue

In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

HON. MANU! 1S T. LOPEZ
Repkeséntative

4°" District, City of Manila

RECEIVED


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

9
HOUSE BILL NO. 4954

Introduced by Representative Manuel Luis T. Lopez

AN ACT
MANDATING ALL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO IMPLEMENT A “NO CONTACT”
POLICY WITH REGARDS TO ALL TRANSACTIONS, APPLICATIONS, PERMITS,
PRIVILIGES, LICENSES, CONCESSIONS OR AN EXTENSION OR RENEWAL THEREOF
AND ANY OTHER BUSINESS DEALING WHICH INVOLVES ANY PAYMENT, FEE, OR
ANY EXCHANGE OF MONETARY VALUE FOR SERVICES THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS
AUTHORIZED OR REQUIRED TO PERFORM AND PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines
in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Zero Contact Transaction
Law of 2017.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - The State recognizes the need to put an end to
corruption in government agencies providing services and engaging in transactions with
the public by standardizing all payments and removing all exchanges of monetary value
from these agencies and instead coursing it through the duly designated banks and
financial institutions, The State further recognizes that the current “red tape
bureaucracy” existing in our Country must be eradicated by removing the exchange of
monetary amounts in the respective government agencies and transferring it to a duly

authorized financial institution.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act, the following terms are defined
as follows:

(a) Authorized Affiliate Financial Institutions (AFI) - Any duly accredited Bank or


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nancial Institution authorized to receive payments in favor of the different
government agencies covered by this Act. Pending the accreditation of these
private firms, the Land Bank of the Philippines will serve as the main financial
institution authorized to receive the payments,

(b) Authorized Receipt- refers to the proof of payment with the AAFI, which shall

be submitted to the respective government agencies. This will serve as the
official receipt to ensure that all fees have been settled, which shall be
submitted together with the complete documents as the offices may require.

(©) Checklist- refers to an official detailed form, which includes all requirements
that must be submitted in order to comply with the particular transaction
coupled with its official seal and the signature of the head of the office. This
would also include the total cost of all processing fees and the time period for
completion.

(d) Frontline Service- refers to the process or transaction between clients and
government offices or agencies involving applications for any privilege, right,
permit, reward, license, concession, or for any modification, renewal or
extension of the enumerated applications and/or requests which are acted
upon in the ordinary course of business of the agency or office concerned.

(e) Government Agency- refers to any of the various units of the Government of
the Republic of the Philippines, including a department, bureau, office,
instrumentality or GOCC, or a local government or a distinct unit therein,

which include but shall not be limited to those that provide frontline services.

SEC. 4, Coverage. ~This Act shall apply to all government agencies of the
Government of the Republic of the Philippines, including all departments, bureaus,
offices, instrumentalities, Government Owned and Controlled Corporations, or a local

government or a distinct unit therein

SEC. 5. Publication of Complete Checklist for each Transaction. ~All government
agencies and offices providing frontline services to the public, where any exchange of
payments or legal fees are made, must publish a detailed checklist of all the pertinent
requirements that need to be accomplished and complied with whether in printed or

digital format. Further, the checklist must contain the number of days that the agency will


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require in order to be able to process the application or request. The approval or denial
must be communicated to the applicant within 10 calendar days from the decision. In

case of a denial, it must completely state the reason/s therefor.

SEC. 6, Mandate. ~ All government agencies and institutions covered by this Act
are hereby mandated to cease and desist from accepting any payment or fee concerning
transactions with their respective offices and may only receive the proof of payment as

issued by the Authorized Affiliate Financial Institutions,

SEC. 7. Where Payment made. ~ All application fees and necessary payments must
be paid to the Authorized Affiliate Financial Institutions upon completion of the
requirements as provided in the different checklists for each agency. No further amount
may be charged by the government agency concerning the same transaction or
application unless such fee is included in the checklist and that payment is to be made

subsequently as provided therein.

SEC. 8. Procedure. ~ The Contact Less Transactions would involve a 3-step
process as follows:

a. All Government Agencies are mandated to publish on their respective
websites or ifnone, make available printed copies in their respective offices
a checklist of all the documents that need to be submitted and fees that
need to be paid. All fees not included in this list shall no longer be
chargeable to the applicant.

b. Upon completion of all the required documents and payment of fees with
the AAFI, the applicant must submit this to the respective government
agency and shall await the approval or denial of the request/ application
within the duly published period indicated in the checklist.

c. Upon receipt of the complete list of requirements and payment of fees, the
said Government Agency must act on the application within the duly
published period and must immediately thereafter inform the applicant via
text message, telephone call, email, or any other means of communication
deemed necessary. In case of denial, the reasons for such must be indicated

in the return form.


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SEC. 9, Action on the Request. ~ When the application involves the exercise of a
ministerial function, the government agency involved shall approve the request upon

compliance with all the requirements and payment of the pertinent fees with the AAFI

If such involves the exercise of discretionary authority, the government agency
shall approve or deny the request as the case may be. In case of a denial, the return must
state the reasons therefor and if possible, any remedy that may be availed of by the
applicant.

SEC. 10, Penalties. - Failure to comply with the duly published time period for the
processing and approval or denial of the different applications without sufficient and
valid excuse shall be punished by imprisonment of not less than 6 months but not more
than 3 years or a fine of not less than Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000.00) but not more
than Two Hundred Thousand Pesos (P200,000.00) or both.

Any person who is found to have willfully or maliciously charged or received an
amount not iftcluded in the duly published checklist shall be punished with imprisonment
of not less than 6 years but not more than 20 years and a fine of not less than Five
Hundred Thousand Pesos (P500,000.00) but not more than Five Million Pesos
(P5,000,000.00).

Any Person found guilty of violating any other provision of this Act or any rules
and regulations issued pursuant hereto, shall, upon conviction be punished by
imprisonment of not less than 6 months but not more 6 years or a fine of not less than
Thirty Thousand Pesos (P30,000.00) but not more than One Hundred Thousand Pesos
(P100,000) or both.

SEC. 11. Transitory Provision, ~ All transactions already pending with the
respective government agencies at the time of the passage of this Act shall be governed
under the laws, rules, and regulations under which these were applied with, However, all

subsequent transactions and applications shall follow the procedure outlined in this Act.


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SEC. 12, Implementing Rules and Regulations and Standard Forms. - Within
sixty (60) days from the promulgation of this Act, the necessary rules and regulations for
the proper implementation of its provisions shall be formulated by the appropriate
government office or agency, subject to the approval of the President of the Philippines.
For a period not later than thirty (30) days upon the approval of the implementing rules

and regulations, the standard forms for the checklist shall be formulated and approved.

SEC. 13, Repealing Clause. - All laws, ordinances, executive orders,
administrative orders, rules, regulations, decrees, and other issuances or parts thereof,
which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby revoked, repealed, or

modified accordingly.
SEC. 14, Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is held unconstitutional
or invalid, the other provisions not affected thereby shall continue in operation and

remain in full force and effect.

SEC. 15. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its

publication in a newspaper of general circulation or the Official Gazette.

Approved,