ILOILO City – Over a month after it was launched, this city’s offsite payment centers continue to serve clients and provide easy, fast and convenient application, renewal and payment of business permits.
The city government has partnered with the private sector to expand its services to off-site payment centers located at The Atrium, Marymart Mall and Festive Walk.
“The offsite payment centers have managed to decongest the volume of transactions at the Iloilo City Hall. They provide more comfortable venues for our taxpayers, too,” said Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion (LEDIP) officer Velma Jane Lao.
For one, a total of 4,202 business permits were renewed as of Jan. 31 through the three offsite payment centers. At Festive Walk, 1,716 business permits have been issued; 1,680 at Marymart Mall; and 806 at The Atrium.
Including those who applied and issued with permits at city hall (8,390), the running total is 12,592.
Lao noted a slight increase in business permit renewals this year compared to last year in the same period with 12,287 or about 306 or 2.5 percent.
Meanwhile, personnel at the offsite payment centers received positive feedbacks from satisfied clients.
Daryl Castro, a satisfied taxpayer, commended employees Mae Joy Tagupa and Fiebe Marie Granada at The Atrium Offsite Payment Center for being “very helpful” when she came to renew her business permit.
“They were helpful in securing my BPLS. The atmosphere at the offsite center was so positive and it made paying very easy. This was made possible by the able leadership of Melvin Benito Santos who made sure everything went smoothly,” she added.
Mayor Jerry Treñas said the city government is looking for ways to bring government services closer to the people in a bid for a more livable, sustainable and resilient metro.
This is part of the city government’s commitment to build back a better and more resilient economy by creating more opportunities for investments and entrepreneurship, he explained.
More offsite payment centers are eyed at SM City Iloilo while Robinsons Place Iloilo and GT Mall in Molo district are also interested to be part of this city government initiative, said Treñas.
ONLINE INTEGRATED BUSINESS PERMITS AND LICENSING SYSTEM
Meantime, Lao said they are also encouraging those who will be registering their businesses this year to make use of the online integrated business permits and licensing system (iBPLS) through the link https://prod12.ebpls.com/iloiloiloilo/index.php/login.
Lao said they are implementing both the old or the manual and the new system or the online way of transactions.
iBPLS is the new system developed and managed by the Department of Information and Communications Technology.
But for those who wished to “walk in”, they may submit their Declaration of Gross Receipts (DGR) and other required documents at the business one-stop-shop of any off-site payment centers from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, or the Iloilo City Hall from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Friday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
Walk-in applications are being assessed and computed using the Business Permits and Licensing Tax Administration System (BPLTAS) of the city government in use since 2008.
Moreover, the city government is also offering online services for the following:
* Online payment of Real Property Taxes –Real property owners may now create their client portal, request for their tax order of payment and pay their real property taxes online using credit or debit cards through https://iloilocity.online/.
This system is in-house developed and maintained by the Project Development and Management Team (PDMT) and managed by the City Treasurer’s Office – Real Property Tax Division. The system has been in full use and operation since September 2022.
* Construction Permitting –The Iloilo City Building and Occupancy Permitting System (ICBOPS), a system used by the Office of the Building Official since 2021, is now made available online. Applicants may now submit applications for Building and Occupancy permits through https://obo.iloilocity.online/.
The ICBOPS is an in-house system developed and maintained by the PDMT and managed by OBO.
Continuing developments of the system is being undertaken by the PDMT including the provision for an online payment of fees and charges for the construction permitting./PN
