PALO, Leyte -- At least 56 local government units in Eastern Visayas are ready for online filing of business application and processing, the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) regional office here has reported.
The towns of San Roque, Northern Samar and San Juan, Southern Leyte have started using the DICT cloud-based electronic Business Permit and Licensing System (eBPLS), a software for business application and processing.
San Roque, Northern Samar is the first local government in the entire Visayas area to use the system, said Ramil Jeff Taboso of DICT regional office in a presentation at the Regional Development Council committee on Monday.
“This system implements a standard business process flow for online processing of business permits and therefore shortens the processing time and provides up-to-date information on the status of an application to the business,” Taboso said.
The local government units with ongoing data build-up for system implementation are Alangalang, Burauen, Palompon, and Tanauan in Leyte; Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte; Balangiga, Can-avid, and Dolores in Eastern Samar.
About 48 areas have been identified as compliant with the online e-readiness survey, which gauges the preparedness of local governments to embrace ICT as a strategic tool for streamlining their business processes.
These areas are Abuyog, Javier, Dagami, and Mayorga in Leyte; Pintuyan, Padre Burgos, San Ricardo, Sogod, Tomas Oppus, San Juan, Bontoc, Hinunangan, Hinundayan, Maasin City, Malitbog, Liloan, and Libagon in Southern Leyte.
Catbalogan City, Almagro, Gandara, Marabut, Paranas, Tagapul-an, Basey, Daram, Hinabangan, Pagsanghan, Pinabacdao, San Jose de Buan, Santa Rita, Tarangnan, San Sebastian, and Villareal in Samar; Guiuan, Hernani, Mercedes, and Giporlos in Eastern Samar.
In Northern Samar province, these areas are Rosario, Lavezares, San Isidro, Pambujan, San Vicente, Bobon, Catarman, Laoang, and Palapag.
The new eBPLS software will enable compliance with the revised service standards of the Joint Memorandum Circular No. 01 issued in 2016 signed by officials of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Interior and Local Government.
The Memorandum specified that a single or unified business application form shall be used in processing new applications for business permits and renewals consolidating all the information on a business registrant needed by various local government departments.
It also set out limitations on the documentary requirements for application submission or new business registration and for license renewal for existing businesses and tries to prevent situations where applicants have to submit the same documents multiple times to different government departments.
Under the system, the target processing time for new business permit applications is one to two days and one day for renewals.
The RDC asked the DICT to report on eBPLS status as they plan to tap the same system in coming up with centralized and standardized data gathering from national government agencies. (PNA)
