• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Benitez said Feb. 12 that the city collected P467.2 million in business tax, as of last month, up by 18.4 percent from the P394.6 million revenue generated in the same period last year.
“We’re making headway,” Benitez said during the press conference Monday as he noted that the 2023 data was already record-high, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city also logged an 11 percent increase in the number of registered business applications, as of last month, at 18,839, compared to 16,994 applications in January 2023.
More than 1,000 new business applications were also received in the Business-One-Stop-Shop (BOSS) of the city at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central that is ongoing only until Feb. 15.
“We’re seeing an influx of business establishments coming in, and I hope this is because of the confidence in the business environment,” Benitez stressed.
The mayor said he believes the increase in applications and revenue could also be attributed to the city’s ongoing campaign to inspect business establishments, and ensure that they have secured permits.
Benitez earlier issued an executive order reconstituting the Joint Inspection Team tasked to conduct a “comprehensive mapping of all businesses in the city and to document all the procedures for effective data banking; as well as monitor and implement adherence of businesses to regulatory requirements set by the city on business operations”.
The upscaling of reforms in processing business permits and licenses in Bacolod “will ensure that frontline services to our constituents are delivered in a timely and responsive manner,” the mayor said in the EO.
The Benitez administration has also institutionalized the QR code system in public documents, especially business permits, senior citizen and person with disability IDs, and other papers.
“Bacolod is one of the few LGUs in the country that have institutionalized the QR code, and this innovation is unique to the city,” the mayor stressed, adding this is very useful since residents can easily check if a business establishment is legally operating, and also for an establishment to validate the authenticity of a senior citizen or PWD ID. | CGC
