Asian Institute of Management Conference on

“SMEs as a Major Force in Promoting Integrity and

Accountability in Business”
Mandarin Hotel
1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
July 26, 2012, Thursday

Message
STREAMLINING PROCESSES FOR BUSINESS PERMITS
AND LICENSES

JESSE M. ROBREDO
Secretary, Department of the Interior and Local Government

Appropriate greetings…

At his State of the Nation Address on Monday, the President

talked about economic development and poverty reduction.
The ongoing program by the Department to streamline the
Business Permits and Licensing System, or BPLS, is
designed to bring these twin goals to fruition.

The program aims to speed up the release of business

permits and licenses in cities and municipalities across the
country. This will bring us three things: more businesses,
more jobs, more growth.

This initiative is particularly beneficial to SMEs, for which the

Department is creating a nurturing environment conducive to
success, as we know full well this sector’s pivotal role in
economic progress.
Basically, what the project is doing is removing the
impediments to the successful launch and development of
businesses by making it easier to acquire or renew business
permits. This is a gut issue with us, because most people still
believe getting a permit or license in the Philippines is a
tedious and expensive process.

Based on a recent nationwide government survey measuring

client satisfaction with the program, we are making huge
strides in eliminating bureaucratic red tape.

A Client Satisfaction Survey was conducted from January 11

to February 10, 2012 among almost 800 micro, small,
medium and large companies from 185 cities and
municipalities across the country.

Let me share with you the preliminary report on the survey

results:

• Seventy percent (70%) of those surveyed said they

received their business permits in three days or less, while
another 17 percent acquired theirs within two hours.
• Before, it usually took five or six days to renew
business permits and up to 10 days to secure new ones.
• Fifty-seven percent (57%) of the businesses surveyed
went through five steps or less to secure their business
permits, which is the government’s current standard.
• The rest reported taking at least six steps, which shows
that there’s still room for improvement in many LGUs.
• Before the project, some cities and municipalities
required from eight to 10 signatures to approve and
release an annual business permit.
• Now, 37% of businesses reported needing only two
signatures or less, 13% required three, and 50% still
needed four or more signatures.
• A major progress is the reduction in the forms to be
filled out. Fifty percent (50%) of businesses polled said
that now they needed to fill out just one form, against 31%
who reported still using three or more forms in their
application.

But here's the most important part: 93% of the respondents

reported that they did not pay “facilitation” or grease money
to have their permits released early.

Such reports inspire us to redouble our efforts, because they

dispel the long-held perception that entrenched negative
government practices cannot be uprooted. With good
governance and an effective and efficient system in place,
change is not only possible, it is inevitable.

Nationwide, about 758 LGUs have already

simplified their procedures and operations for
securing business permits and licenses.

We are also ahead of schedule, with BPLS

streamlining completed in 480 pilot LGUs, two
years ahead of our 2014 target.

But achieving 200% compliance with BPLS

streamlining is not enough. We need to raise our
standards and enhance our services, and this
calls for moving to the next phase of this project
—automation.
By going online, we are assured of fast, accurate
and transparent delivery of services.

Through a computer-based BPLS, a businessman

is afforded a systematic process for registering
and renewing his business permits and licenses
with LGUs. It provides him a more efficient
alternative to the tedious manual processes that
require long waiting periods.

With just one click, a taxpayer can view his dues

and payments. This will help LGUs provide fast
and efficient information on billing and
processing of payment of taxes and fees.

Automation can also generate automatic

computation of mayor’s permit fees, business
taxes and other fees including reports such as
master list of business establishments, business
tax collections, notice of delinquency, reports
from financial bureaus and agencies, among
others.

Using computerized transactions proves

convenient to the public. It offers client
accessibility features such as downloadable
application forms, online submission, and
updates on business application status.
These are just some of the positive results of
what BPLS automation can do to our localities.

When these reforms are in place, more investors

will come to put up their businesses in our
country which will increase income tax
revenues, provide more employment and
livelihood opportunities to people and improve
delivery of services in the local levels.

This is our vision; this is our dream. And today’s

undertaking is another great step towards
achieving that vision.

Thank you.