BACOLOD City – The city government has boosted local building fee collection through the Integrated Business Permits and Licensing System (IBPLS), a software developed by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
The IBPLS allows for the electronic processing of applications for building permits and certificates of occupancy issued by the Office of the Building Official (OBO).
As of Monday, July 10, the OBO collected P55.76 million from permit applications from July 2022 to June 2023, up from just P48.27 million between July 2021 and June 2022.
Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said the IBPLS makes it easier to apply for a building permit and certificate of occupancy.
“That is perhaps why the collection of OBO also increased,” he said.
According to Benitez, the latest figures also indicate that the city government exceeded its pre-pandemic collection of only P42.27 million from July 2019 to June 2020.
“”In other words, we’re in good shape,” the mayor said.
To ensure ease of doing business, the city government has recently opened the permanent Bacolod Express Service Office (BESO) on the third floor of SM City Bacolod.
“We are also bringing our services closer to business owners. We launched the permanent Bacolod Express Service Office at SM. The setting up of another BESO at Ayala Malls Capitol Central is ongoing. We ensure ease of doing business to attract more investors to Bacolod City,” he said. (PNA)/PN
