A CEBU City councilor is seeking a review of the business permit application and renewal procedures in City Hall so these can be simplified, following President Aquino's appeal for local government units (LGUs) to streamline the process.
Daluz, chairman of the City Council committee on budget and finance, said the council already passed an ordinance streamlining the procedures in renewing business permits in 2008 yet.
In Talisay City, the local government adopted an “efficient” scheme in issuing or renewing business permits since last year, said City Administrator Richel Bacaltos.
Those applying for new business permits and those who want to renew theirs will no longer have to go from one City Hall office to another, said City Press Information Officer Arturo Bas.
The scheme was aimed at cutting red tape and projecting Talisay City as more investor-friendly.
In his first State of the Nation Address, Aquino called for streamlining the processes of business permits issuance.
Among the reforms the Talisay City Hall has adopted is the implementation of one-stop-shop scheme, where applicants only have to submit all the requirements to the Business Permit and Licensing office.
A composite team of sanitary, zoning, engineering, fire and health inspectors will then conduct an ocular visit at the site of the proposed establishment.
If the applicant passed all the requirements, the payment of business or licensing fees will follow at the city treasurer’s office.
Once payment is made, the papers will be forwarded to the mayor’s office for approval.
“The applicant does not have to go around from one office to another. And if he has complied with all the requirements with no hitches, it will take only three to four days or at most one week for him to get his business permit,” Bacaltos said.
Bas said the program of making Talisay City more investor-friendly was done during the term of Rep. Eduardo Gullas (Cebu, 1st distrit), the city’s former mayor.
“But we have fully implemented this program of shortening the process only last year,” added Bacaltos.
Bacaltos said the City Hall is also providing the applicants leaflets to guide them in applying for business permits.