Sen. Edgardo Angara Sunday urged Congress to pass the Anti-Red Tape bill to help speed up business activities in government offices in the Philippines.

Angara said lawmakers should address the worsening bureaucratic red tape in the country which is hampering investments in the country to run smoothly.

“Bureaucratic red tape is one of the biggest deterrents to investment. Many government offices over-regulate and unnecessarily lengthen the procedures for securing basic government services,” Angara said.

Because of red tape, Angara said government employees are committing bribery or requiring “informal payments” to cut short lengthy procedures in any business transaction or request.

“This well-founded perception of inertia of government agencies and offices has not only frustrated the delivery of vital government services to the public, it has also made potential investors hesitant about doing business in the country,” said Angara who also authored the Ombudsman Law and the Government Procurement Reform Act.