Moving to bolster the country’s maritime sector, the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), led by Secretary Ernesto V. Perez, recently convened a high-level meeting with the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) to map out critical regulatory reforms for the domestic Shipbuilding and Ship Repair (SBSR) industry.
The initiative is part of the National Effort for the Harmonization of Efficient Measures of Inter-Related Agencies (NEHEMIA) Program, a flagship government effort aimed at slashing bureaucratic red tape across interconnected agencies.
During the meeting, ARTA presented extensive findings from its recent regulatory scoping activities. These findings mapped out the labyrinth of existing permitting, licensing, accreditation, registration, renewal, inspection, and incentive processes that currently govern local shipyard operations.
To systematically address these bottlenecks, MARINA approved the inclusion of these permitting services in an upcoming Strategic Whole-of-Government (STRAT-WOG) Reengineering Workshop. ARTA will now begin crafting comprehensive, end-to-end business process maps to serve as the blueprint for the workshop, where officials will identify specific streamlining interventions.
The collaboration yielded several major agreements to ensure long-term, structural reform:
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Establishment of a Dedicated TWG: A new Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Technical Working Group (TWG) was officially formed. MARINA will serve as the Chair, with ARTA as Co-Chair, backed by permanent focal persons to maintain direct, continuous coordination.
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A Leaner Citizen’s Charter: MARINA committed to updating its Citizen’s Charter to officially reflect a newly optimized, eight-step shipyard registration and licensing framework.
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Cutting Unnecessary Requirements: MARINA agreed to assess the feasibility of entirely removing redundant bottlenecks, specifically the shipyard affiliation and Mayor’s Permit requirements, from the registration process.
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The Road to a Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC): Both agencies finalized a timeline to draft a JMC, which will legally institutionalize these harmonized regulatory reforms across the entire maritime sector.
Moving forward, the two agencies outlined an aggressive slate of succeeding activities to finalize the reforms:
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Convening a STRAT-WOG Stakeholders’ Forum to gather private sector input.
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Conducting intensive Business Process Mapping (BPM) and Standard Cost Model (SCM) workshops.
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Engaging with adjacent government agencies impacted by the sector.
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Holding public consultative sessions on the draft JMC before presenting the final version at the next High-Level Meeting.
The crucial alignment meeting was personally attended by key leadership figures, including MARINA Administrator Sonia B. Malaluan, Chief of Staff Engr. Ramon C. Hernandez, and Shipyards Registration Service (SRS) Director Engr. Emmanuel B. Carpio. Representing ARTA alongside Secretary Perez were Deputy Director General for Operations Undersecretary Lea-Grace B. Salcedo and Better Regulations Office (BRO) Director Marbida L. Marbida.
Both agencies reaffirmed their shared commitment to delivering an efficient, modern maritime regulatory environment that embodies the core principles of the Bagong Pilipinas administration.
