City officials requested all departments and offices in the local government involved in the issuance of clearances and permits to update their citizens charters regarding the processing of business permits in the city and for the same to comply with existing laws, rules and regulations.
Under Resolution No. 514, series of 2021, local legislators stated that based on the March 2021 data from the City Permits and Licensing Division under the City Mayor’s Office, there are 23,400 registered businesses in the city.
Of the said total number of businesses, more than 20,800 are classified as micro enterprises while more than 2,400 are small enterprises.
However, the council pointed out that most of the aforesaid businesses are reportedly experiencing difficulties in renewing their respective business permits as well as new applicants due to various reasons
Earlier, some concerned Baguio-based businessmen raised observations and issuers experienced by many business permit applicants during the recent regular session of the body stating, among other things, that the seemingly requirements for obtaining their permits are unclear and confusing, some procedures are allegedly repetitious as well as overlapping of functions regarding implementation of the zoning ordinance, inspection and structural standards and other problems on additional requirements in the acquisition of the said permit.
The citizens charter is a document that details all of the agency’s frontline services, including the step by step procedures, showing the requirements, time, and fees involved for clients to get what they need which became necessary as mandated by the pertinent provisions of Republic Act (RA) 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007 as amended by RA No 11032 otherwise known as the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient government Service Delivery Act of 2018.
According to the council, RA 11032 prescribed the processing time of all government agencies, national of local, government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), government instrumentalities located in the Philippines or abroad and shall comply with the same such as 3 working days for simple transactions; 7 working days for complexed transactions and 20 working days for highly technical applications.
Further, the said law also streamlined procedures for the issuance of local business licenses, clearances, permits or authorizations with one unified business application form; establishment of business one-stop shop and barangay clearances and permits may now be issued by the city or municipality.
The law requires that the citizens charter of the said offices be updated to indicate in details the checklist of requirements for each type of application or request, persons responsible for each step, amount of fees to be paid, procedures to obtain a particular service, maximum time to complete the process, and procedure for filing complaints.
The council stipulated that the updated citizens charter on the processing of business permit in the city be conspicuously displayed in the departments and offices involved in the processing of the said permits and in the website of the local government.
(Photo courtesy by Joseph Manzano)