Business registration up by 8% in 2023

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – The Permits and Licensing Division Office (BPLO) recorded an eight percent increase in business registration last year compared to 2022.

Stella Rose Rayos, Permits and Licensing Division head, said that 25,300 business registrations were processed in 2023, while 23,000 were completed in 2022.

Rayos said that their intensified inspection of business establishments and implementation of closure orders against violators were factors that contributed to the increase in business registration last year.

“This time, payers are now aware of their obligations to the city,” she added.

Rayos said that there were also new infrastructures in the city, which signifies economic growth and development.

Rayos said that they were able to issue 3,749 new business permits on top of the more than 21,200 permits that were renewed last year.

As of January 12, Rayos said that they have already issued 1,100 business permits, and 9,800 business registrations through the Business One-Stop-Shop (BOSS) at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central here.

Initially, the BPLO was supposed to process the applications online. However, due to some complaints about slow internet connection at the shopping mall, the city government decided to also do the processing manually to cope with the volume of applications per day.

Rayos said that there is a need to modify the system in order for them to fully shift to online processing.

The BOSS will be until January 20 per city ordinance. She said that there’s no advice yet if it will be extended.

Business owners who fail to process their registration and permits by January 20 will have to pay a 25 percent surcharge as a penalty, while those who have already processed their application will be given a 10 percent discount on their business tax.

Despite the technicalities in the online processing, Rayos believed that most business owners have applied online.