FORMER president and Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte urged City Hall officials anew to hasten the processing of permits, pointing out that the current city government is “back in their old practices”.
“Ang City Hall... parang bumabalik sila sa old practice (The city seems to go back in its old practice)... [nowadays, a City Hall] permit takes months to process,” Duterte said in a speech, May 25.
Duterte said his comments are based on his observations and what the people have been telling him.
He also told City Councilor and former Vice Mayor Bernard Al-ag, who was present during Duterte’s speech, to call out the office heads such as in Business Bureau and City Engineering Office to fast-track the processing of the needed permits.
“Sana on your level, you may give a privilege speech or call, tawagan mo yang mga (call the) [...] heads of offices, permit, engineering,” Duterte said.
“Tanungin mo (Ask them) in public, that would be a better way of doing it, ‘Bakit matagal kayo magtrabaho (What is taking you so long?). Are you in for the money? Or tell us, because we will change it,” Duterte added.
The former mayor also said if the needed documents or permits will stay in the office for more than three days, “corruption will start.”
“Ako three days noon, five days kung hindi mo pa matapos (During my time, it was three days. If it has reached five days), the head office will issue the permit and will have to write me a letter explaining why it took him more than three days to finish the job,” Duterte said.
Duterte understands that “humiliating” a person is really a hard thing to do, but if it happens repetitively, the practice set by the offices will go back to its “old” form.
“At kung walang sagot, sampalin mo (Slap them if they cannot give an answer),” he added.
In an earlier SunStar Davao report, the Business Bureau said they have transitioned to digitalize all their transactions in a bid to hasten the processing of business permits.
"We are available online for our business permit application and issuance. The client can apply and have the business permit printed at their own convenience," Business Bureau’s Business Permits and Licensing Division officer-in-charge Maribel Paguican said.
Also earlier this year, the digitalization project “Project Bilis” between the City Government of Davao and the power utility Davao Light and Power Company (Davao Light) was launched, which aims to provide ease of doing business.
The project was designed to cover the Business Permit and Licensing System (BPLS), paying real property taxes, building permits, and online payment system of the City Government. ICE