CALAMBA CITY, Laguna – Efforts to streamline business transactions with city hall got a boost after the local government declared its electronic Business One-Stop Shop (eBOSS) program officially operational. The online portal allows entrepreneurs to electronically transmit payments for their business taxes and permits as they still have the option to make the payments onsite if they prefer the old method of transacting with the government.
During Monday’s flag-raising ceremonies, Mayor Roseller Rizal said the city’s pioneering eBOSS program has gained positive attention from the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), an agency under the Office of the President. Rizal said ARTA Secretary Ernesto Perez is set to visit Calamba to formally recognize the municipal government’s inroads towards ease of doing business. ARTA was created through Republic Act 11032 or the “Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act”, which was passed in 2018. “We would like to show and has already started last Jan. 2, the eBOSS in Calamba City.
There are less requirements, less signatories that make the business permit processes faster,” Rizal told reporters. “Business people can now apply online, paperless, contactless, and cashless transactions.” He said revenues generated through payment of various fees are necessary to fund needed services to Calamba residents, as well as for paying the wages to the city government’s over 4,200 employees.
Rizal added some 1,200 city hall employees are holding permanent positions while the rest are either contract of services or job order workers. Meanwhile, Bernadette Opulencia, head of the Business Permits and Tricycle Franchising Office (BPTFO), said the option to apply for and renew business permits online is a technological leap for city hall, and signals faster and more efficient service delivery. “This digitalization or automation of issuing permits this year using the CalamBago online app is the start of us becoming a smart city… and a testament to our full compliance to the ease of doing business law,” Opulencia said.
“Using their computers or smartphones, anyone can apply for a business permit, anytime, anywhere from the application, payment of business taxes, and releasing of business permit online,” she added. The deadline for paying business taxes was set on Jan. 31, while the payment of real property taxes was extended until March 31 without penalties. During the flag-raising ceremonies, the City Treasury Management Office also announced that the city’s revenue collection has been improving at a pace of around 18 percent yearly from 2021 to November 2023, indicating a gradual recovery from the pandemic slump. (ZEN TRINIDAD/PNA)
