The private sector is spearheading a nationwide initiative to review government regulatory processes across all industries in hopes of improving the country’s ease of doing business by eliminating bureaucratic red tape — a long-standing concern among investors – and create a business friendly Philippines.
The initiative is being led by the Philippines Ease of Doing Business Foundation Inc. (PH EODB Foundation), the main convener and resource arm of the Buklod Bayani Coalition. The coalition is a multisectoral collaboration headed by the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and key business organizations such as the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, International Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Philippine Exporters Confederation, and Employers Confederation of the Philippines, among others. The initiative was unveiled on Tuesday night, September 29.
Businessman Roberto Alvarez Jr., president of the PH EODB Foundation, said they are scheduled to meet with President Marcos and expressed hope that the President would endorse the private sector-funded initiative with the tagline “Ease PH”.
As part of its strategy, the foundation will form review groups down to the municipal level to examine business regulatory processes — such as permitting and clearances — with the goal of eliminating unnecessary steps, signatures and requirements. The group aims to reduce the number of steps in business permitting processes to just three, down from as many as 100 in some cases.
The review will cover all industries. With the private sector in each industry taking the lead, Alvarez emphasized that they “know exactly what are the necessary steps for a particular business to go through and the requirements needed.” These local review teams will work with relevant government agencies and local authorities to present recommendations. The hope is that agencies will act on these recommendations to streamline their processes.
“The idea is to show to the government agency how to simplify the processes,” Alvarez said. “They will also benchmark best practices from other countries. Can we not simplify this? Then, we pull out our other folder, which is from the international community. Look, the other countries, this is what they do. We will tell them, this is no longer necessary and tell them remove that. So, in short, the process continues to get shorter,’” he added.
The initiative has also received support from several foreign embassies. Among those present at the launch were ambassadors and representatives from countries and organizations such as the U.S., Norway, Sweden, Malaysia, Estonia, and multilateral institutions including the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) and the Asian Development Bank.
Alvarez noted that many of the recommended changes can be implemented even at the local and department level. “It does not even have to reach ARTA, but maybe some needs action by the President, maybe some congressional to make the change,” he said.
“This will not be an easy task, it will take time. This is an ongoing thing. But the thing is, when we begin, the engagement continues and industries will continue to improve because they will benefit from the ease of doing business. Because if business processes are not delayed, industries will benefit,” he added.
Alvarez also clarified that the initiative is meant to support ARTA, describing it as a small agency with a critical mission to improve regulatory efficiency.
“We are assisting ARTA in doing the review. But our authority only ends on suggestion,” he said.
To push its agenda further, the group plans to present their proposal — along with ARTA — at the upcoming 2025 Philippine Business Conference (PBC), the country’s largest annual business event.
“During the Philippine Business Conference, I’m sure this will be one of the topics and everybody will be more aware of it. So we’re going to bring ARTA to the PBC,” Alvarez said. The PBC is slated on October 20-21 this year at SMX Convention Center Manila.
Ranking
The initiative comes at the height of the ongoing investigation of the multi-billion peso flood control project scandal where politicians, project contractors, and top ranking government officials are involved.
In recent years, the Philippines has made strides in competitiveness, improving its World Bank Doing Business ranking from 124th in 2019 to 95th in 2020, and placing 51st out of 69 economies in the 2025 World Competitiveness Yearbook.
While progress has been noted, the business community continues to describe the Philippine business environment as an obstacle course – one defined by fragmented reforms, overlapping regulations, and gaps in service delivery.
The B-READY 2024 Report by the World Bank underscores both the Philippines’s strengths and opportunities for reform. But challenges remain in areas such as business entry, insolvency, public services, and operational efficiency, where targeted reforms could unlock unlock transformative growth.
