The ordinances, titled "An Ordinance Streamlining and Digitizing Business Permit Applications" and "An Ordinance Restructuring the Organizational Structure of the Business Bureau to Add Plantilla Personnel and Appropriating Funds Therefor," aim to simplify business transactions and permit applications in Davao City.
“The main purpose of these ordinances is to make sure that the mandate of our Mayor Baste Duterte to give our constituents, specially the businessmen, a positive experience in their transactions in the city. We need to streamline our process, we need to digitize the process. It is my desire that people from far-flung areas need not go here to apply for a business permit. Let us take advantage of the technology,” he said.
According to him, the Davao City Government intends to grant 50,000 business permits every year.
According to the graph of business permits issued each year that he presented during the City Council session on Tuesday, 35,000 business permits were issued in 2015, 36,000 in 2016, 39,000 in 2017, 39,000 in 2018, 39,700 in 2019, and 41,520 in 2019, which is the highest in Davao City's history prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, it fell to 40,225 in 2020, and 40,920 permits were awarded last year.
“This year we only have 38,000. This is way down sa atong target na 50,000. Our business permits every January tayo nag-re-renew ug madungagan lang ni kapag naay new businesses that will open in the city. As we can see there is a downtrend in the number of permits that we were issued from the total time high of 41,000 establishments that were successfully issued permits it went down to 40,000 for the years 2020 and 2021,” he said.
According to Al-ag, there were 45,403 applicants for business permits as of June 30, 2022, with only 38,900 successfully registered and issued with business permits, while the remaining 6,000 applicants were denied permits for failing to comply with documentary and regulatory commission requirements.
“There are 6,400 business permit applicants that were denied because of any regulatory and documentary requirements. So wala na approve. Our goal is to find out why is it there are more than 6,000 applicants were not given permits. What are the things that we need to do? What are the legislations that we need to do for these more than 6,000 new applicants to be issued a permit and legalize their businesses in the city?” he said.
He also said that for this year’s applicants, there are 35,145 applications for renewal of business permits and 3,759 for new applications.
“Thus, there are more than 1,000 renewal applicants and 70 new applicants daily,” he said.
Al-ag also presented that there are only 29 plantilla positions covering the more than 40,000 applications for business permits in the city and out of these 29, there are 21 filled in and eight vacant plantilla positions.
For the current personnel Business Bureau plantilla, three are detailed in-personnel, 25 contracts of service (COS), and 25 Job Orders (JOs).
“The question is with these more than 20 plantilla and 50 COS and JOs are these enough for us to have an efficient Business Bureau Office? Is this enough for businessmen applying for business permits to have a good experience in the city?” he said.
He said the main problem relative to the slow issuance of the business permits in the case of new applicants is the excessive and tedious requirements and the means of accessing the same is not fully digitized and lack of personnel in the Business Bureau Division.
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