THE Philippines jumped 29 notches in World Bank's Doing Business 2020 rankings to place 95th among 190 economies.
Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez, who described the improvement as a "long jump", said in a press conference Thursday, October 24, 2019, that the Philippines' ease of doing business score improved to 62.8 this year from 57.68.
Lopez said this was the third highest jump in ranking, after Togo (+40) and Saudi Arabia (+30).
"We share the same spot with Jordan which also increased by +29 notches," Lopez added.
He also noted that the Philippines was cited by the World Bank as one of 42 economies which implemented regulatory reforms in more than three topics, resulting in significant improvements in EODB scores
The three topics are: Getting Credit (with an EODB score of 40 from 5), Protecting Minority Investors (60 from 43.33), and Dealing with Construction permits (70 from 68.58)
Lopez said the DTI adopted a "winning formula" of whole of government approach plus public-private sector partnership.
"Team Philippines works. The judiciary, legislative, and executive branches, in partnership with the private sector, committed to a deliberate, methodical execution of a sound and clear strategy towards competitiveness. Today, we see the fruits of our labor," Lopez said.
He said the Philippines submitted 42 reforms and 11 data correction requests to the World Bank for the Doing Business 2020 report.
"All 11 data correction requests were considered but only 9 of 42 reforms were accepted," he said.
In the 2019 report, the government had objected to the Philippines' slide by 11 notches to 124 from 113 in 2018.
"This was attributed mainly to the country’s dismal performance in the 'Getting Credit' indicator. We said that the World Bank has gotten that one wrong. This was regrettable considering the significant headway made by the Philippines on the other indicators," Lopez said.
The data challenge was not mentioned in the 2020 report, but the DTI chief said they were "relieved that a more realistic assessment of the Philippines’ credit Information ecosystem has been reflected" in the latest report.
The Philippines’ rank in Getting Credit improved to 132 from 184, or by 52 notches.
Lopez said the Philippines also registered higher scores in Paying Taxes (72.6 from 71.8), and slightly higher scores in Enforcing Contracts (46 from 45.96) and Registering Property (57.6 from 57.56).
However, he said the country's rank in these areas declined because other countries moved faster.
On paying taxes, the WB recognized the efforts of the Quezon City Government which allows one payment for the local business tax and community tax.
Under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) law, the Bureau of Internal Revenue has also simplified the income tax returns for corporations, thus, reducing the amount of time for preparation and filing to 24 hours from the previous 38 hours.
On enforcing contracts, Lopez cited the Supreme Court for the reforms to reduce the time and cost of resolving a standardized commercial dispute.
Immediately, the Supreme Court increased the threshold for small claims cases filed before the Metropolitan Trial Courts from P300,000 to P400,000.
"The WB team acknowledged this reform, however, there was not enough time to assess impact of the Revised Rules of Procedure for Small Claims Cases on the standardized commercial dispute. This, we believe will have an impact in the next cycle of the DB 2021," Lopez said.
On registering property, the Land Registration Authority (LRA) Register of Deeds had implemented a comprehensive and functional database to check for encumbrances. The electronic database was implemented following LRA’s initiative to digitize all land titles.
"When a background check of a property is required, LRA can now use the property number to search the title and obtain information of all encumbrances, caveats, charges or privileges affecting the registered property," Lopez said.
"A score of one point is given to an economy where the agency in charge of registering immovable property has implemented a comprehensive and functional database to check for encumbrances, covering most of the properties registered in the largest business city of this economy. This database should include information on all encumbrances, caveats, charges or privileges affecting a registered property," he added.
To prepare for the 2021 report, Lopez said the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) will prioritize the implementation of the Philippines Business Portal, which will provide online end-to-end mobile registration.
Other priorities are the online corporate registration system, a unified employee reporting system, property registration portal, and modern collateral registry. (MVI/SunStar Philippines)