MANILA – The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) has urged all local government units (LGUs) to reduce the number of steps and time of processing business applications by half before the year ends.
This, as President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) called on all government offices to continue their initiatives to further ease doing business in the country to lure more investors.
“Our goal, we hope to achieve this together with collaboration with other government agencies especially the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) is 10 minutes (for the business process). So, that’s an ambitious number but we want to do that,” ARTA Undersecretary Geneses Abot said.
“But we want that all of the LGUs would be able to have their business process reduced by at least half or more by the end of the year,” he said.
Abot said some of the LGUs can process business permits in less than an hour through the full implementation of the electronic Business One-Stop Shop (eBOSS).
An LGU that is fully compliant with eBOSS has an online system to receive electronic business applications through a unified application form; can issue electronic tax bill, fire safety inspection certificate fee, and barangay clearance fee; is capable of issuing electronic versions of permits; and can accept other modes of payment aside from cash.
Abot said there are currently 46 LGUs that are fully compliant with eBOSS. Some 1,178 cities and municipalities have also been on board the streamlined and online business processing system.
President Marcos said in his SONA Monday that the government has conscious efforts to improve the ease of doing business and the delivery of services through digitalization, integration, and streamlining of processes. (PNA)
