Iloilo, ARTA team up on one-stop shop for business permits

By Mariela Angella Oladive

The Iloilo provincial government and the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) have partnered to establish a Provincial One-Stop Shop (POSS) aimed at speeding up business-related government transactions and improving access to frontline services across the province.

The partnership was formalized through a memorandum of agreement signed during ARTA’s Grand Ease of Doing Business Fair on Tuesday, May 26, as part of the national observance of Ease of Doing Business Month.

ARTA Director General Ernesto V. Perez signed the agreement together with provincial tourism officer and Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion (LEDIP) head Aulynn Yue Sin, who represented Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.

Under the initiative, the POSS will serve as a centralized hub for government services, particularly business permit processing and investor assistance.

The facility will initially operate through a help desk under the LEDIP office, which will handle business coordination, investment facilitation, and support services for prospective and existing investors in Iloilo.

The provincial government said the initiative is expected to simplify procedures, reduce processing time, and strengthen monitoring of business permit transactions among local government units in the province.

Local government units were also encouraged to adopt the electronic Business One-Stop Shop, or eBOSS, a digital platform designed to streamline and automate permit applications and related processes.

Yue Sin said improving access to government services can help stimulate local economic activity and generate employment opportunities.

“When government services become faster, simpler, and more accessible, we empower people. Businesses grow, jobs are created, and communities improve,” she said.

The partnership forms part of the province’s Movement for Robust, Progressive, and Globally Resilient Iloilo development agenda, which promotes investor-friendly and people-centered governance anchored on inclusive growth.

ARTA, an agency attached to the Office of the President, was created under Republic Act No. 11032, the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018, which amended the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared May as Ease of Doing Business Month under Proclamation No. 818, signed in March 2025, directing ARTA to lead nationwide service fairs and reform activities.

The Grand Ease of Doing Business Fair gathered national government agencies and local government units to provide frontline services, process permits, conduct consultations, and promote reforms aimed at making government transactions more efficient and accessible to the public and the business sector.