LGU faces complaints over business permit issuance

SEVERAL complaints were lodged against the local government of San Simon over the alleged irregularities in the issuance of business permits.

Based on documents obtained by SunStar Pampanga from a source who asked for anonymity, three separate complaints were lodged by anonymous callers at the 8888 Citizens' Complaint Hotline of the National Government.

The calls were made on February 3, 4 and 13 as shown on the documents received by Department of the Interior and Local Government-Central Luzon Records and Legal Unit, respectively.

The anonymous callers alleged that the local government refuses to issue their business permit despite their settlement of all necessary payments.

The complainants added that they have been securing business permits in the municipality for more than 20 years but have not experienced such delays.

They pointed at the supposed newly-passed local ordinance that allegedly requires business owners to secure a certification from the Department of Agrarian Reform on the reclassification of their lands.

"They are doing this to all business owners in San Simon. There are actually people going around establishments and offering settlements. We are asking for the government to conduct an investigation on this because there is a business owner who already paid P1.5-million but their permit is still not released," one of the callers alleged.

Incomplete requirements

Mayor Abundio Punsalan Jr., meanwhile, asserted that the delay on the issuance of business permits is due to incomplete requirements submitted by the applicants.

Punsalan said business owners must comply with all the requirements set by the national and local government, including the submission of the certificate of reclassification of land.

"The councilors are requiring the business owners whose lands were not reclassified yet to reclassify them first so that the government can collect the appropriate tax dues. That is actually a national law, not only in San Simon," he said.

Punsalan said the local government has been allowing them to use the properties for industrial businesses for the past decades while still classified as agricultural lands.

"Like what I already told members of the San Simon business chamber, I am just putting everything in order. We require them to reclassify their lands now also for their own protection. Even when there is change in leadership, they are secured with the necessary documents," he said.

He added that the local government is actually assisting the business owners to process their documents required, including the reclassification of their lands.

"We give our 100 percent support to our investors here just like what a business-friendly municipality does. We welcome new investors and we nurture the existing ones as long as they comply with the requirements of the government," he said.

Punsalan, meanwhile, said that he recently met with the San Simon Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., but there were no complaints aired to him by the members.

He also noted that most of the businesses in the municipality have already secured their permits and remaining ones are only completing their requirements.

Asked who could have been behind the said calls, Punsalan said: "These are anonymous calls. If somebody has a legitimate complaint, you should identify yourself so we can properly address you. Unless this is just about politics."

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