• CHERYL G. CRUZ
Three regular employees of the Bacolod Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) committed to appear before the National Bureau of Investigation in the city on Jan. 31, over their alleged involvement in the release of a fake permit.
NBI-Bacolod chief, Atty. Renoir Baldovino, said in a Bombo Radyo Bacolod interview this afternoon, Jan. 29, that three of the four personnel being complained received the summon and promised to go to the Bureau on Wednesday.
The fourth one, reportedly a job order worker, has no records with the city and cannot be located, Baldovino said in the radio interview.
The city Public Information Office said Jan. 24 that the NBI has issued subpoenas Jan. 23 to two employees of the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) and the BPLO.
The employees were summoned for further investigation on their alleged involvement in the release of fake permits last year, the city said. “Mayor (Alfredo) Benitez sought the NBI’s intervention to ensure a thorough and impartial examination of the matter…(and) underscores the city’s commitment to upholding transparency and integrity in its administrative processes.”
Last year, Benitez revealed that the CTO discovered about 90 fake business permits, and surmised that this illegal activity has been going on for years, or even decades.
He said he believed there was “inside job” in the proliferation of fake business permits, assessments, and official receipts, and that former JOs were involved, along with fixers.
His administration initiated QR codes in official documents and permits for easy validation if these papers are authentic, and urged Bacolodnons to immediately report anomalous transactions and wrongdoings, through https://bit.ly/ISUGIDKAYMAYORALBEE.
Benitez also issued an executive order reconstituting the Joint Inspection Team tasked to conduct “comprehensive mapping of all businesses of the city and documents 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 the City of Bacolod “will ensure that delivery of frontline services to our constituents are delivered in a timely and responsive manner,” the mayor said in the EO.
The City Legal Office and the BPLO personnel have been conducting routine inspections of business establishments since the start of this year, including about 26 stores in Brgy. Mansilingan, and 27 at the City Mall Goldenfield. | CGC
