BAGUIO CITY – More than 13,000 business establishments operating in the different parts of the city were already issued permits by the city permits and licensing division for owners to legally operate their respective businesses.
Dr. Braille Van Reyes, city permits and licensing officer, said the number of business establishments that were issued permits by the city government will substantially increase in the coming months following the regular conduct of inspection of business establishments operating in the city’s 128 barangays.
For the whole year last year, the city government was able to issue smoke 17,158 permits to business establishments that operated in the different parts of the city.
With the lapse of the 3-month grace period granted by the city government for individual and corporate businesses to renew or apply for permits last March, Reyes said personnel of the city permits and licensing division are now divided into several teams and are going around the city’s 128 barangays to conduct the regular inspection of business establishments in order to compel those without permits to secure their permits with the local government.
According to him, business establishments who refuse to secure their permits with the city government after the issuance of proper notices will be subjected to closure and that the same will only be re-opened upon the issuance of the permit by the city.
Reyes said the implementation of the electronic business permits and licensing system have contributed in easing the requirements for the applications for the issuance of permits, thus, owners of business establishments should be empowered to secure their permits to legitimize their operations and to allow the local government to generate the needed income to sustain the delivery of basic services to the people and to bankroll the implementation of priority projects for the people.
He called on barangay officials to cooperate with the unrelenting and uncompromising campaign of the city government to require all business in their respective areas of jurisdiction to secure their permits in order to legitimize their operations and prevent undue interruption in the conduct of their businesses, saying that they must already conduct the inspection and report to their office which among the establishments in their places are doing business without permits.
He said responsible barangay officials must already take the lead in conducting the inspection in their areas of jurisdiction and make their report to the city government in relation to the establishments that were issued and those that do not have the proper permits from the city.
Reyes said barangays will benefit from establishments applying for business permits because one of the major requirements of a city issued permit is the barangay business clearance to be issued by the concerned barangay where the business is located thereby translating to added income for the barangay.
Further, Reyes also appealed to owners of business establishments to voluntarily apply and secure their respective permits and not to await the results of the inspection to be conducted by the barangays or the city government because they stand to face stiffer penalties once they are found to have been operating without the benefit of business permits from the local government covering their operation for the whole year.
By Dexter A. See
