Friday, January 25, 2008 Business permits renewal collection up by P62-M By Grace L. Plata
THE Davao City Business Bureau has registered an increase of 1,687 business permit renewals as of January 23, 2008 compared to the same period last year.
The Business Bureau opened its doors for business permit renewal from January 7 to midnight of January 21.
Business permits renewal totaled to 23,355 which reflects a 7.78 percent increase from last year's 21,668.
With the increase, the bureau's collection increased by P62 million.
As of January 22, the bureau has collected P272,954,499 while they collected P210,901,681 during the same period last year.
According to Business Bureau chief lawyer Jhoppie S. Avanceña-Agustin, the renewal process went on smoothly and fast.
"We did not experience any sort of problems because of the new system we are using," Agustin said.
The bureau has shortened the renewal phase by removing the need for companies to go through agencies such as the City Health Office, Bureau of Fire Protection, and City Environment and Natural Resources.
This is because the bureau has a standing agreement with the agencies to have their respective checks on businesses during the year and submit the list of violators to the Business Bureau for blocking.
"Once they submit the list of violators, we block them (from the) system. If they apply for a renewal, they are advised to have their offices and establishment checked by the agency concerned and issued a certification of compliance before they are allowed to renew," Agustin said.
In this way, Agustin explained, those who have maintained compliance with all the requirements have the ease in renewing their permits. This also eliminates the need for fixers, he added.
Though the period set by the bureau for renewals has ended, Agustin said business owners can still renew their permits albeit with penalties for late renewal.
New business registrations, on the other hand, have decreased as of January 23.
During the same period of 2007, the bureau registered 1,091 new businesses while there are only 852 for this year.
Agustin, however, said the number is expected to increase within the year as new businesses can apply for registration anytime they wish to do so.
"Anyone can apply for a business permit at any time of the year. They just have to make sure they have the business permit before the start operations," Agustin said.
