ILOILO City – This highly urbanized city is now working on the physical setup of its business one-stop-shop (BOSS) to become compliant with Republic Act 11032, or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.
In an interview, Business Process Licensing Office (BPLO) head Norman Tabud said the law mandates local government units (LGUs) to establish a BOSS for applicants of building permit, certificate of occupancy and business permit.
It also prescribes the number of steps and days that should be complied with for the documents to be released.
“Otherwise the office will be held liable under the law,” Tabud added.
Tabud said LGUs are given three years to comply since the law took effect July this year.
He clarified that the city government has no problem when it comes to the registration stage because the business permit can be issued in 30 to 45 minutes once the documents are complete.
The problem occurs during the pre-registration stage where the client has to apply for registration, either at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), fire safety inspection certificate from the Bureau of Fire Protection and building and occupancy permits from the City Engineers Office.
“What we are working on is the pre-registration stage. This is where we plan to have a one-stop-shop,” he said.
Republic Act 11032 mandates that documents for simple transactions must be released in three days and seven days for complex transactions. For those that need highly-technical decisions, the period required is not more than 20 days.
The law, he said, observes as two-strike policy. On the first offense, the person liable shall be meted with a 60-day suspension while the second offense carries a penalty of dismissal from office, perpetual disqualification from holding public office, forfeiture of benefits, and imprisonment of one to six years with a fine of not less than P500,000 but not more than P2 million.
“It shall pass through the Civil Service (Commission). Therefore, if there is a complaint against a front liner, it has to be proven that indeed a violation was committed,” he said.
The city government targets to have the BOSS established at the third floor of the Iloilo City Hall before the end of the year.
It will house the offices of the building official, zoning, assessor, treasurer, BPLO and Bureau of Fire Protection. (PNA)
