REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
QUEZON CITY

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No._ 4134

Introduced by: HONORABLE AL FRANCIS BICHARA

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This bill seeks to establish a nationwide One-Stop Shop system of public service
for all National and Local Government Agencies. Under the scheme, all local
government units (LGUs) and agencies under them will be required to set up shops
together with all national agencies engage in issuing permits, licenses, certifications,
documents, and other similar instruments, in all localities nationwide. This is to
effectively reach more people outside of the metropolitan cities where most national
government agencies hold office. This way, even people from the municipalities can
secure the instruments they need without having to travel to the cities.

Decentralization of this function of national government agencies will help in
making all transactions move faster, more transparent, and more efficient.
Standardized requirements and step by step procedures both for the local and national
agencies under this set-up will minimize the waste of time and effort of people who
travel far and wide only to be sent back for lack of needed requirements which often
differ from place to place and province to province, depending on the assessment of
local persons in-charge.

By standardization too, transparency will be greater and room for anomalies are
reduced. Further, this set-up will generate more income for the local governments since
the people will just troop to their respective local municipal/city halls to transact
business, generating more activities that will surely require the establishment of allied
services and businesses.

Under this proposal too, all these shops are given fixed periods within which to
release requested documents, with sanctions for failure of compliance, thus effectively
reducing red tape.

For the foregoing reasons, immediate approval of this m
sought.

is eamestly

NCIS C. BICHARA
2 District, Albay


SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE)
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES — )
FIRST REGULAR SESSION )

H.B. No. 4134

Introduced by HONORABLE AL FRANCIS C. BICHARA

AN ACT ESTABLISHING NATIONWIDE ONE-STOP SHOPS FOR PUBLIC
CONCERNS INVOLVING LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND NATIONAL
AGENCIES, AND IMPOSING SANCTIONS FOR FAILURE TO OBSERVE THE SAME,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

SECTION 1. Statement of Policy. - Consistent with Article Il Section 27 of the 1987
Constitution, it is the policy of the State to maintain honesty and integrity in the public
service and take positive and effective measures against graft and corruption. It is also
a policy of the State to maintain honesty and integrity in the public service and take
positive and effective measure against corruption. It is also a policy of the State to
provide efficient service to the people.

SECTION 2. Coverage - This Act shall cover all local government units and
government agencies which issue documents, permits, licenses, and certificates among
others which can be used by the public as proof of the agency's official act
authentication.

SECTION 3. Nationwide One-Stop Shops — With the concern of the public in mind,
there is hereby created Nationwide One-Stop Shops for all public needs before all local
government units and national agencies including but not limited to documents, permits,
licenses, and certificates among others which the public can use as proof of the
agency's authentication. Every local government unit national agency is mandated to
post, in at least ten (10) bulletin boards in their building as well as in their official
website, all the documentation service that they provide for the public as well as the
step-by-step procedure shall be in accordance with the law which created it and the
LGU or national agency concerned shall not add nor diminish any requirement more
than is necessary to achieve the desired result.

For this purpose, each local government unit and government agency shall observe a
uniform system of enumerating their services, as well as the steps to be followed in
order to obtain them, subject to the Implementing Rules and Regulations. The official
costs and other related official expenses necessary to set —up and maintain these
Nationwide One-Stop Shops shall be borne by each agency concerned subject to the
Implementing Rules and Regulations to be issued under this Act. The rules and
Regulations notwithstanding, all officers and heads local government units and national
agencies concerned, as well as their respective employees shall exercise their usual
functions and are prohibited from entering into transaction outside their line of the work.

SECTION 4. Mandatory Update, Revision, and Improvement of Database and
Processing Systems — All local government units and National agencies are required
to update, revise, and improve their respective processing systems, including websites,


in order to efficiently cater to the needs of the public faster and more efficiently, as well
as to reduce under-the-table transaction.

Section 5. Prompt and Efficient Processing of Requests. - Where the documents,
fees, and other requirements are complete and in order, the LGU or national agency
concerned shall process the same without delay and without demanding for
requirements other than those situated in the law.

If the requirements are not complete, the LGU or national agency concerned shall still
accept the same, subject to their respective Rules and Regulations regarding the grace
period for compliance, as well as the consequences and penalties for refusal to comply.

The LGUs and national agencies concerned shall resolve all applications within the
period set forth by their respective rules and regulations. If the application is meritorious,
the documents, license, permit, or certificate requested for shall be issued immediately.
In case of denial, the agency concerned shall issue a written notice informing the
person concerned of the denial. Re-filing of incomplete or unmeritorious applications is
subject to each LGU’s or national agency's rules and regulations.

Section 6. Delayed Compliance. - Whenever an application or request cannot be
complied with at the same time of application due to a delay or a pending application in
another LGU or national agency, the applicant shall submit an Affidavit of Non-
Submission of Document, with an undertaking to fulfill such requirement as soon as it is
available.

Section 7. Prohibition on Unnecessary Penalties. - No LGU or national agency shall
impose a penalty whenever the delay mentioned in Section 6 is due to its own fault or to
the fault of any other LGU or national agency. The same applies for delay caused by
fortuitous events or any such other event beyond the control of the applicant.

Section 8. Penalties and Sanctions. - Officers and Employees who shall violate this
Act shall be liable under Section 11 of Republic Act 9485, otherwise known as the Anti-
Red Tape Act. All the other officers and employees involved in the violation shall be
responsible for the violation under this Section.

Administrative liability shall be enforced according to Civil Service law, rules, and
regulations without prejudice to other civil or criminal liabilities for the same act or
omission.

To prove liability, the aggrieved party or parties shall provide the requisite information
and documentation. An Affidavit shall also be executed by the party aggrieved, narrating
the chronological events, the person/s involved, the date and time when the violation
happened, as well as other relevant information.

Section 9. Implementing Rules and Regulations. ~ Within thirty (30) days from the
effectivity of this Act, the respective Chairmen and heads of the LGUs and national
agencies concerned shall issue their respective rules and regulations which shall be in
accordance with the law creating them. The LGU or national agency concerned shall
not add nor diminish any requirement more than is necessary to achieve the desired
result.

Section 10. Pending Application. - Within thirty (30) days from the effectivity of this
Act, the respective Chairmen and heads of the LGUs and national agencies concerned
shall submit an inventory of all pending and unresolved applications.

Section 11. Separability Clause. - The provisions of this Act are declared to be
separable and if any part, sentence, or provision should be held invalid or


unconstitutional, the remaining portions which are not declared to be such, shall not be
affected by such invalidity or unconstitutionality,

Section 12. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, charters, executive orders,
administrative orders, proclamations, rules and regulations, or parts thereof insofar as
they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed of modified
accordingly.

Section 13. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from its publication
in the Official Gazette or in any newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,