BACOLOD Mayor Evelio Leonardia requested the City Council to extend the Business One-Stop-Shop (Boss) and the deadline of payment for business permits from January 20 to February 29.
This, after Leonardia received a request from the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry to extend the filing of permits and deadline of the first quarter payment of tax.
Leonardia said he already signed the endorsement requesting the City Council to extend the Boss until February 29.
“This has been a tradition and expected by the public (extension of Boss), but it’s up to the City Council if they will grant the request or not. The final say will depend on them,” he said.
From January 2 to 10, the Permits and Licensing Division already registered a total of 11, 384 business establishments or with an increase of 18.73 percent compared to 9, 588 establishments registered in 2019.
Stela Rose Rayos, head of Permits and Licensing Division, said most of the registered establishments are restaurants, real estate lessors, refreshments, eateries, and food carts among others.
“We reached that big increase because of our advance processing of the business permits in December 2019,” she said.
She added in 2019, the business registration in Bacolod has reached a record-breaking 25,627, surpassing the record of 2018 with 23,187 businesses registered, according to the Permits and Licensing Division.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia earlier said the 2018 figure was then the highest ever, but it was still a pleasant surprise that the 2019 record marked an increase of 2,440 or 10.52 percent increase from the previous year.
“Progress begets progress. I believe that, indeed. The thing speaks for itself,” he said.
“This also means that things are different now in Bacolod. For one, all the big players are here,” the mayor added, enumerating the big property developers that have mushroomed in the city.
In 2016, when the Leonardia administration took over, business registration reached 19,021. In 2017, it increased to 22,004. It went up to 23,187 in 2018 and 25,627 in 2019.