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President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to appoint a head for the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), which would oversee the implementation of a law seeking to improve the ease of doing businesses in the country, the body's officer in charge said Thursday.

Only the ARTA's director general can endorse for Duterte's approval the draft implementing rules and regulations of the Ease of Doing Business Act, said deputy head and officer-in-charge Ernesto Perez.

The law, signed by the President in May 2018, seeks to shorten the processing time of business applications by national or local government agencies.

The trade department's competitiveness bureau will serve as ARTA's secretariat until the body is fully organized, said Perez, who was only appointed last December.

ARTA will have 250 employees initially. Its director general and deputies will be ranked equally with Cabinet secretaries and undersecretaries, respectively, he added.

DZMM, 3 January 2019