QUEZON CITY- In line with President Duterte's directive of reducing the requirements and processing time of all government transactions, the Local Government Academy (LGA), training arm of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), facilitated a Coaches' Training on the Enhanced Business Permitting and Licensing System (BPLS) on December 1-2, 2016 with participants from the regional offices of DILG, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) within Luzon.

This is also a result of the recently issued Joint Memorandum Circular No. 01 s.2016 or the Revised Standards in Processing Business Permits and Licenses in Cities and Municipalities between the DILG, DTI and DICT.

In this new memorandum, four standards were stated. These include the use of a unified form; list of documentary requirements; standard steps, standard processing time and number of signatories.

Specifically, the revised BPLS standards direct the Local Government Units (LGUs) to process business permits within 1-2 days, depending if it is for a new business or for renewal.

It also states that the Fire Safety Inspection Certificate (FSIC) issued by the BFP during the occupancy permit stage is already sufficient as basis for issuance of the FSIC for the business permit.

To further streamline the business process, the revised Memo also encourage the LGUs to develop online mechanisms for both new business registrations and permit renewal applications.

During the activity, speakers from the Bureau of Local Government Development (BLGD-DILG), BLGF, BFP and DICT discussed various topics related to the implementation of the revised JMC such as the DILG-BPLS Program, Assessment of Business Taxes and Fees, FSIC Assessment and Inspection, and BPLS automation.

The participants also had workshops in diagnosing and designing the business process of a sample LGU using the Regulatory Simplification for Local Governments (RS4LG) as the analysis tool.

Prior to the issuance of JMC No.01-2016, the LGUs were directed to streamline the business permitting and licensing system through JMC No.01, s.2010.