THE municipality of San Simon was recognized anew as one of the country's most outstanding local government units (LGUs) for its excellent implementation of the streamlining program in the issuance of mayor's permit.
A total of seven awards were conferred by the by the National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines (NCCP), Central Luzon Regional Development Council-Special Committee on Competitiveness (RDC3-SCC) and Central Luzon Growth Corridor Foundation Incorporated (CLGCFI) during the 12th recognition of outstanding LGUs in the implementation of the streamlining program in the issuance of mayor's permit at the Diwa ng Tarlak Convention Center, Tarlac province last Friday evening, June 29.
Particularly, CLGCFI hailed San Simon town as most outstanding LGU in the in the provincial and regional categories. It was also hailed as the most outstanding LGU in information technology innovations, wherein it placed first in the provincial category and third in the regional category.
The San Simon LGU also placed sixth in infrastructure, seventh in overall competitiveness and 10th in economic dynamism based on the 2017 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index of the NCCP and RDC3-SCC.
Mayor Leonora Wong told SunStar Pampanga that the awards manifest the ease of doing business in San Simon, and the commitment of the LGU in providing quality service to investors and local business owners in the town.
She said the LGU, particularly the business permit licensing office, strictly implements the maximum 20 minutes processing time of business permits through the use of information and communication technology.
Wong also noted of the LGU's strict compliance to Republic Act 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business Act of 2018, which requires government agencies and LGUs to process simple transactions within three days and complex transactions in seven days.
"These awards are already marks of San Simon. We are already a hall of famer because of the ease of doing business in San Simon through the maximum utilization of ICT. We are also implementing online applications for business permits and what is lacking is online payment because we are still restricted by some Commission on Audit guidelines," Wong said.
Aside from the awards, Wong said that strict implementation of business permit licensing measures also resulted to the influx of multi-national investors in San Simon, which, she said, spurred the sustained development in the town.
"As you see, San Simon is now loaded with industrial establishments and there still many investors who are coming here. This is all due to the ease of doing business in San Simon and our strict implementation of the Anti-Red Tape Act," she said.