CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The city government has collected P576.4 million from business permit renewals for 2017, which represents a 27.45 percent increase from the previous year.
City treasurer Ramon Mendoza attributed the increase to City Hall’s automated system, which enables businesses and individuals to transact online.
“For example, kung magkuha ka sa imo billing, dili ka na necessary moanha sa City Hall. You just have to do it online in the tips of your phones,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza pointed out that when the online transaction wasn’t fully implemented yet in 2016, the city’s collection from business permit renewals only stood at P452 million.
The local government has reported that it has already already collected P10 million from its online payment system since it became fully operational last year.
In addition, Mendoza said the City Treasurer’s Office is expecting a steady increase in collection for business applications in the years to come because of the recent reforms implemented by the local government. These included the speedy approval process for business permits as well as the strict implementation of the government’s anti-red tape campaign.
Mendoza said the City Finance Office has already wrapped up its annual processing of business permits last January 31, with the final number of registered enterprises, both recurring and new, tallied at more than 14,000.
The figures represented an increase of 3,000 compared with the 2017 record of only 11,000.
Mendoza said the local government is now focusing on the renewal of business permits of the hundreds of concessionaires in its public markets and other LGU-controlled enterprises. (Mark D. Francisco/PNA)
