MANILA – Out of 1,600 local government units (LGUs) in the country, 580 cities and municipalities have met the deadline of establishing the electronic Business One-Stop Shop (e-BOSS) mandated by the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA).
In its Kapihan sa ARTA Tuesday, ARTA director general Jeremiah Belgica said these 580 LGUs are fully connected to the Integrated Business Permits and Licensing System (IBPLS).
The IBPLS was created by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to help LGUs streamline and automate their transactions with the public, and is offered for free to help them put up their e-BOSS.
Under the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Delivery of Government Service Act, LGUs have to establish their BOSS, while Joint Memorandum Circular 01-2021 orders LGUs to automate their BOSS on or before June 17, 2021.
To make transactions with the government easier, the e-BOSS shall accept electronic submission of application; issue electronic tax bill or order of payment; accept online payment; release electronic version of permits, licenses, and clearances; and provide gateway facility linked to courier service where applicant prefers hard copy of the documents.
But Belgica said there are other LGUs that already automated their services using other software and are not yet connected with the IBPLS.
“We got (a) report from DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) that around 94 percent (of LGUs) have started automation,” he said in Filipino. “But what we want in ARTA, and what the law is saying, it (transaction) has to be end-to-end.”
The ARTA chief added they will continue to assist those LGUs that are not yet onboard the IBPLS, but bigger LGUs should accelerate the automation as they deal more with businesses transacting to get permits and licenses.
Bottlenecks identified
Belgica said ARTA understands there are difficulties for some LGUs to streamline and automate their services like accepting online payments.
However, he said the agency will not tolerate the non-compliance of barangay officials that still process barangay permits at their level even though the law already directs LGUs to process barangay permits and collect taxes and fees for barangays within their jurisdiction through the BOSS.
“All the barangays that until now have not integrated (the barangay permits with the BOSS or e-BOSS), ARTA will write to them. We will also ask the mayors why the barangays are not yet integrated," Belgica said.
He reminded public offices not to be a burden for the businesses and transacting public by complying with the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act. (PNA)
