In order to facilitate the fast processing of business permits by government agencies, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is urging local government units (LGUs) to share information on the registered business establishments in their area in the Philippine Business Data Bank (PBDB).
DILG Officer-in-Charge Catalino S. Cuy says the PBDB is another innovation meant to comply with the directive of President Rodrigo Duterte to fast-track the issuance of business permits and make it easier and more convenient for businesses to transact with the government.
“With the help of this platform, business owners do not have to bring numerous documentary requirements with each government agency that they are dealing with,” says Cuy.
A joint initiative of the Department of Finance, the Department of Information and Communication Technology and the DILG, the PBDB is a single platform that can be accessed through the national government portal by key government agencies involved in processing business permits and other licenses.
Cuy underscores the need to have a consolidated database for all business establishments at the national level, composed of each and every LGU that comply with the requirements of sharing information and promoting transparency.
For the data bank to work, he says LGUs would have to share complete information to the national government, such as the types of business and their status at the LGU level.
“The database can become basis of the DILG for the necessary technical assistance to be given to them in the future. Initially, the data within the repository were provided by agencies such as Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), and the LGUs starting with Quezon City,” he says.
During the PBDB orientation held recently at the Luxent Hotel in Quezon City, LGUs were provided with knowledge and insights about the PBDB and how it can be used as a tool in verifying the legitimacy of businesses in the country.
Bureau of Local Government Development (BLGD) Director Anna Liza Bonagua said that available information in the database include business name, business permit number, registration date, expiry date, PSIC Reference number, Tax Identification Number (TIN), business address, and zip code, among others.
Bonagua said that in the future, the PBDB would include economic locators or businesses in the different economic zones in the Philippines, and would soon allow the general public to verify the existence of a specific business entity.
She also said that cities and municipalities that have already streamlined their BPLS should share their business sector information in the PBDB.
Based on the BLGD data, around 85% of LGUs have already streamlined their business permits and licensing system (BPLS) process in accordance with the standard contained in the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) 01 series of 2016 of DILG, DTI, and DICT.
