The government is planning to establish a central business portal (CBP) that would accelerate provision of social services to Filipinos and significantly cut the number of steps and of days in registering a business.
This developed as the the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) has been designated to receive complaints from the business sector against violation of Republic Act No. 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Delivery Act of 2018.
The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Securities and Exchange Commission, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Social Security System, Philippine Health Insurance System, and the Home Development Mutual Fund are finalizing the timeline of the CBP to be developed by DICT as an online platform designed to receive and capture data on business-related transactions and to provide links to online registration services of various national government agencies, and eventually, to the local government units (LGUs).
The CBP aims to complete business registration in eight steps within six and a half days from 13 steps in 33 days in 2019.
The first phase of the CBP was launched last October and was fully operational in February with the launch of the National Business
One-Stop Shop (NBOSS), a physical co-location of the agencies.
With the pandemic, DICT set up a virtual NBOSS to make it easier to register one-person corporations and less than five-member corporations.
Meanwhile, PCCI president Benedicto Yujuico and Jeremiah Belgica, director-general of ARTA signed on August 28 a memorandum of understanding where PCCI area vice presidents and regional governors are deputized as ARTA champions. Its local chambers are authorized to receive complaints and conduct review before endorsing to ARTA for appropriate action.
ARTA shall ensure that complaints endorsed by PCCI are acted upon and promptly, and will provide PCCI the information materials to educate its businesses on the provisions of the law. Likewise, ARTA shall seek the recommendations of PCCI on matters relative to the improvement of regulatory systems, policies, and procedures of various NGAs and LGUs.