Mandaue extends biz permit renewals due to slow system

CEBU, Philippines – Due to its slow system, Mandaue City has extended the operation of one-stop shops for business permit renewals until February 4 to accommodate more establishments.

“…because it is the fault of our office. Our system is very slow,” said City Treasurer Regal Oliva.

Oliva explained that their computer system, which is seven years old, can process only a single application in 15 minutes or double the time when it would take when it was still new.

“Our system needs updating and upgrading. Seven years old na,” he said.

He added that the number of establishments in its database has, however, doubled to about 14,000, causing it to hang from time to time.

Oliva said the delay is not fair to business owners who are in a hurry to get their documents done. Hence, they are implementing the extension.

As of Wednesday, the City Treasurer’s Office was able to process 3,300 business establishments and collected P174 million.

Oliva said this is higher by 40 percent from last year’s collection, and they are not even done yet with the processing.

The supposed deadline, according to the Local Government Code, was January 20, but the City Council last Wednesday approved the 15-day extension.

The approved extension means that those who come after January 20 but not later than February 4 will not be charged with a penalty, Oliva explained. After February 4, he said they will slap penalties and interest to late applications.

“Supposedly, ma-penalize today (January 21) as per the Local Government Code. Ang problema is atong resibo computerized, di ma-manipulate, automatic mo-penalty kung molapas na. So council approved a resolution for this,” he said.

Oliva said he expects 4,000 business renewals this year.

Meanwhile, he said his office will upgrade its information technology system this year so that next year’s processing will be faster.  (FREEMAN)