OBO collects P52 million in 5 months

CEBU, Philippines —  The Office of the Building Official in Cebu City has already hit over half of its target collection of P100 million for 2022 during the first five months of this year alone.

OBO head Architect Florante Catalan disclosed that they have already collected P52 million so far based on the report from the city’s Public Information Office.

“From January 2022 to present, ang atong nakuha na nga income sa OBO is naa na sa mga P52 million na. Wala pa kaabot og katunga sa tuig nakuha na nato,” said Catalan.

Last year, OBO collected over P80 million in receipts which made it decide to increase its target collection this year.

Catalan attributes such development to its new system, the OBO IS version 3 wherein building permits can be processed in just a day.

“If paspas ang imohang processing, paspas pod sila makabayad sa ilang permits, paspas pod ang ang income nga makuha nato. Pero og dugay-dugayon nimo, hinayon nimo, daghan kaayo ka og kuti, dugay sila makabayad, dugay sila ka-comply, hinay ang income,” Catalan noted.

To improve its services further, Catalan is also looking at offering online services.

Catalan said the city’s Management Information and  Computer Services is now currently developing its online system.

“Wala nay face-to-face nga mo-apply sila. So by that time, dili na sila ka-hire og mga follow-upper. If mag-online na ‘ta, ang developer, ang architect sa developer, sila na ang mo-apply online,” he said.

“Kanang mga naa gipanugo diha makita nato, pare-pareha ra na og mga nawong. Usa pa, naa miy madawat nga mga complaints nga ‘human nami og bayad aning tawhana and then wala pa na-release ang among permits. Ingon ana ba. Mao na ang akong gilikayan,” he added.

No to fixers

For the meantime, though, Catalan is reminding developers, architects, engineers, and building construction owners to avoid getting fixers.

“Mokuha gyud sila og professional nga mo-process sa ilang building permit applications or occupancy permit applications nga ilahang i-apply diri sa office. Ayaw mo og bayad sa mga fixers. Akong message sa ilaha, walay fixers sa office, one day lang ang atong processing sa office, so there’s no need to worry about,” he said.

Catalan takes pride in the employees under his office, saying they do not take “under-the-table” transactions and gifts, may they be for cash or kind.

“Sulayi gani og hatag ang akong mga tawo mapakyas mo, di gyud na modawat. Di na sila modawat, di gyud mi modawat. Number one nako nga policy is ‘No Gifts’ policy, maski snack. ‘No Gifts’ policy gyud mi unya fast processing. Kaning opisinaha wa gyuy kurapsyon. Zero. As in wala gyud. Tell me kinsay manguha diha, prove it,” Catalan said. – JMD (FREEMAN)