MANILA – Families of deceased soldiers and cops may now direct their issues and concerns regarding the processing of death benefit claims to the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA).
Claimants with pending applications at the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) or other related concerns are encouraged to communicate with ARTA through [email protected].
“Hindi na po kailangang hintayin ang pagbuo ng inter-agency task force with the Department of [the] Interior and Local Government and PNP dahil ngayon pa lang ay maaari n’yo na pong iparating sa amin ang mga concern ukol dito para agad po nating maaksyunan (There is no need to wait for the formation of inter-agency task force with DILG and PNP because right now concerns can be sent to us for immediate action)," ARTA Director General Jeremiah Belgica said in a news release on Thursday.
The inter-agency task force, to be headed by ARTA Deputy Director General for Finance and Administration Carlos Quita, will work on simplifying the steps and reducing the processing time for death benefit claims.
In the meantime, a special task force within ARTA had already been set up to address related issues and concerns channeled through the mentioned e-mail address.
The immediate action by ARTA is in response to President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive last Monday to fast-track the release of death benefit claims to families of uniformed personnel.
ARTA will also be coordinating with concerned government agencies for the setting-up of a one-stop shop in the regions and localities for all the services involved in the process. (PR)
