THE local government of Cagayan de Oro City has been commended by the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) for streamlining their business permits and licensing systems and implementing the electronic Business One-Stop Shop or eBOSS.
Early this week, ARTA officials visited the Cagayan de Oro to check if the city has complied with the Anti-Red Tape and Ease of Doing Business laws.
They were welcomed by City Administrator lawyer Hilario Raagas, City Mayor's Office Chief of Staff Sheila Lumbatan, Cagayan de Oro Trade and Investments Promotions Center Head John Asuncion and representatives of the Business Permitting and Licensing Office during their arrival at the city hall on Wednesday, June 21.
The visit, ARTA even received complaints regarding government employee misconduct and assisted complainants in filing cases with the Civil Service Commission and Ombudsman.
“The eBOSS computer automation program is one of the innovations of the City Finance Department,” said City Mayor’s Office chief of Staff Shiela Lumbatan.
Lumbatan said the city finance department ensures ease in doing business in the city and effective delivery of essential services to the public.
“This is in line with the national government’s directive to bring government transactions and services online and hasten bureaucratic efficiency,” she said.
According to Arta, as a mandatory requirement, under the Ease of Doing Business Law, a fully established and automated eBOSS must feature a unified application form, online uploading of required documents, issuance of electronic tax bills or order of payment, issuance of a valid electronic permit with the same level of authority as the hard copy, an integrated online payment and a link connecting to a physical courier to deliver permits.
The Certificate of Commendation was received by Raagas on behalf of Mayor Rolando 'Klarex' Uy from Secretary Ernesto V. Perez, the Director General of ARTA during the inauguration of the new regional field office of ARTA on Thursday, June 22 at the NFA compound in Baloy, Tablon.
The eBoss computer automation program is one of the innovations of the City Finance Department aimed at accelerating and simplifying the process of applying for a business permit, with the goal of reducing the hassle for entrepreneurs when transacting with the city hall.
Online billing and payment systems for business and real property tax, traffic violations, city building fees, market stall rental, ordinance violation receipts (OVR), and civil registry fees are typical of the full automation of eBOSS.
ARTA said the recognition given to the LGUs was in line with Presidents’ directive to digitalize government services and hasten bureaucratic efficiency.
According to Arta all of the cities that implement the Joint Memorandum Circular for eBOSS have one common denominator: their number of business registrations and revenue collections have increased.
The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) called on all local government units (LGUs) to “fully implement” their respective Business One Stop Shops (BOSS) for this year’s business registration and business license renewals.
ARTA shall be conducting a series of on-the-spot surprise inspections starting January, especially to NCR (National Capital Region) Cities and other Highly Urbanized Cities.
Furthermore, the LGUs compliance will be audited based on the requirements of Republic Act 11032 or the or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 and other existing policies of ARTA, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) on BOSS.
Some of the important requirements and features that are expected from the BOSS of LGUs are the following:
--A single window for submission of all requirements.
--A Unified Application Form containing all required questions by all the offices involved in permits process.
--Three Simple Step process of Submission, Assessment/Payment and Release.
--Presence of a clear and complete citizen’s charter.
--Integration of Barangay Clearance in the BOSS.
--Integration of Fire Safety Inspection/Evaluation Clearance in the BOSS.
--A processing of application of not more than 3 days.
Arta said deficient LGUs shall receive Notice of Deficiencies and may be subjected to a formal investigation which may result to an administrative case.
LGUs who have no Electronic BOSS yet may already use the DICT developed Electronic Business Permitting and Licensing System (EBPLS) which is already available for free.
The Philippines is currently 95th out of 190 economies in the Ease of Doing Business Survey of the World Bank.
