March 9, 2018

The National Competitiveness Council together with Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Interior and Local Government, and World Bank visited the One-Stop shops on Business and Building permits in Quezon City.

One-Stop shops were created in a bid to improve the business environment in the locality and to further increase the rankings of the Philippines in the Ease of the Doing Business (EODB) report of the World Bank – International Finance Corporation. Quezon City plays a critical role in the EODB Report as the city in the Philippines being measured for ease of doing business.

NCC, DTI, and together with the Doing Business team continuously worked with each unit/office at Quezon City to identify possible reforms and areas for improvement in the current number of procedures and processing time.

In response to this, Mayor Herbert Bautista issued Executive Order No. 11 on 22 December 2017 to further simplify and streamline the steps and time in issuing licenses and to create One-Stop Shops (OSS) for Building and Business Permits.

The first One-Stop shop the city launched is Business One-Stop-Shop (BOSS). With the concierge services of the QC Business Permit and Licensing Office (BPLO), applicants can now register their businesses in a simple three (3)-step process which can be completed in just one hour. Aside from the concierge, the BOSS also offers the convenience of having applications processed simultaneously by evaluators of the Business Permits and Licensing Office, Zoning for the locational clearance, and the Bureau of Fire Protection for the fire safety inspection.

The second One-Stop shop is for expediting the process of building permits and occupancy permits, which will be convenient particularly for those who are building simple and small structures or doing renovations. For this One-Stop shop, evaluators for zoning, Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Local building Officials are also all housed in one location making the applications for building permit faster and would allow for a single, integrated application process for locational clearance, fire safety evaluation, building permit and ancillary permits.

NCC Private Sector Co-Chairman Guillermo Luz commended the initiatives “These efforts contribute to improvements from the previous process of obtaining business and building permits.  Before it was tedious, took too much time and people needed to move from different offices which were located in different floors/areas to obtain licenses and permits or make payments. Now, it is more efficient, involves less face to face interaction, and more customer-friendly. “ 

He added that these kinds of reforms should also be fast in developing/evolving “This is a good start to streamlining these procedures; however, moving forward, we should also look into getting these permits done online. Other countries are now harnessing technology to delivering these kinds of services. If we want to be more competitive, we should go online.”

Mr. Luz also lauded the agencies involved in this initiative. “These reforms illustrate the power of partnership and collaboration. The One-Stop Shops were achieved because these agencies: the local government of Quezon City, Bureau of Fire Protection, Meralco, and Department of Interior and Local Government, are cutting silos and closely working together. We want other cities to use this as an example, if we want to move the country forward.”

Quezon City Business One-Stop Shop is located at Ground floor, Civic Center Building A, Quezon City Hall Compound (Tel no. 988-4242 loc 8171-74), while the Construction Permits One-Stop Shop is located at 14^th Floor, Quezon City Hall Main Building (Tel no. 944-4242 loc 1400).
More info here: http://www.quezoncity.gov.ph/index.php/component/content/article/67-main-content/2464-one-stop-shops-at-quezon-city

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