MORE THAN 13,000 single proprietorship businesses were created last year in Cebu, the second highest registered in the past 14 years, the Department of Trade and Industry said.
According to data recently forwarded by DTI Cebu to Sun.Star Cebu, there were 13,770 business names issued in Cebu in 2014. This is more than the 12,261 business names issued in 2013. The year 2011 registered the highest at 14,050 business names.
“We have actually reached our target in 2014, which is to register 13,000 businesses,” said Zaide Bation, DTI Cebu consumer welfare and business regulation division chief. This is equivalent to a total capitalization of P5.42 billion and 29, 221 jobs, still higher than the P1.01 billion capitalization and 22,064 jobs generated in 2013.
Business name registration since October 2008 for single proprietorships only as corporations are no longer required to register their business names with DTI.
Mobile project
Although there’s no official analysis made yet to study the growth, Bation said DTI Cebu’s Business Name (BN) Mobile last year helped a lot and allowed the informal sector to be recorded in DTI’s database. During BN Mobile last year, DTI officials went around different cities and municipalities in Cebu to register unregistered business establishments.
Late last year, DTI Cebu Provincial Director Nelia Navarro advised entrepreneurs to register their businesses. She said that if people register with DTI, they can get access to trainings, seminars and programs as they will be placed in the agency’s database.
The month of January last year registered the highest number of business names at 1,546, while the lowest recorded was in the month of December at 669.
Bation has not identified which sectors the businesses come from, saying they have not included that in their study. However, she said DTI will be including it for this year’s data.
Meanwhile, DTI business development chief Elias Tecson said the implementing rules and regulations for the Go Negosyo Act or RA 10644 of Senator Bam Aquino already came out.
Under the law, Go Negosyo centers will be placed in all provinces, cities, and municipalities under the supervision of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development (MSMED) Council through the regional offices of DTI. The centers shall have the following functions: business registration assistance, business advisory services, business information and advocacy and monitoring and evaluation of business processes for MSMEs.
DTI, along with the Department of the Interior and Local Government and other relevant agencies, are mandated to develop a unified and simplified business registration form based on the current form being used for the business process and licensing system.
“Should the concerned business permits and licensing offices fail to process the application within 15 days, the MSME shall be deemed registered for a period of one year,” it states.
Revoke permit
However, any BPLO will have the authority to revoke the permit or license within 30 calendar days from date of application upon failure of MSME to meet the requirements.
The Go Negosyo Centers will be linked to the Philippine Business Registry System (PBRS) to make it easier and faster for entrepreneurs to start and register their businesses at the local level.
In an addition to easier business registration, the Go Negosyo Centers will also allow entrepreneurs to avail of other services such as technology transfer, production and management training programs as well as marketing assistance from the DTI, Department of Science and Technology, University of the Philippines – Institute for Small-Scale Industries, Cooperative Development Authority, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and other agencies concerned.