THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Davao Region considers the lack of access to a stable internet connection and the computerization of the processes to be the main challenges in expediting the issuance of permits in far-flung areas.
DTI-Davao director Maria Belenda Ambi said the cities for the ease of doing business like Valenzuela City were successful in implementing the Republic Act 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Law because of their stable internet connection.
She said the internet connection is crucial since the law encouraged the government agency to use technology in its processes.
“In places like Valenzuela, the [processing] time is very short because their access to internet is very stable unlike ang uban natong probinsya, katong mga munisipyo, dili gyud sila connected. Kung naa man silay connection, very limited (Other provinces and municipalities do not have internet connection. If they have the connection, it is still very limited),” she said during the agency’s presentation of their preliminary annual performance report, Thursday, December 12.
Valenzuela has reportedly adopted an online service that aims to cut the processing time of business application to 10 seconds from the usual 15 to 30 minutes.
“Usually, the 10 seconds is upon submission of the completed documents. The ARTA (Anti-Red Tape Authority) requires that the process should take the shortest possible time, that businessmen do not have to wait,” Ambi said, adding it should not exceed three days.
She said the maximum duration set by Davao City in processing permits upon submission of documents is three days, but they target to reduce it to 15 minutes.
She also added that there are still people who are not familiar with registering their businesses online.
“For DTI, our registration is now electronic-based. Naa pa gihapon clients nga mu-prefer nga muadto gyud silag opisina (There are still clients who prefer to apply qt our office),” she said.
However, she admitted that the agency’s current set up still require clients to submit some documents personally for validation.
“Daghan pa tag dapat nga i-firm up especially sa IT (information technology) infrastructure. Ang uban wala pa naka-fibre optic so daghan pa tag mga infrastructure requirements labi na sa far-flung provinces and municipalities (There are a lot of IT infrastructure requirement that needs to be firmed up especially in far-flung provinces and municipalities),” she said.
She urged the Department of Information and Technology (DICT) to assist all government agencies including the local government units to be connected online.
DICT will be assisting all government agencies including LGUs to be connected online.
“I hope that other cities in Davao Region will be able to finally adopt the online processing of their business permits and licensing,” she said.