Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo is urging towns and cities to allow online renewal of mayor’s permits.

At a news conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Pasig City, he called for a stepping up the department’s good housekeeping program to create a business-friendly climate and ensure the competitiveness of local government units.

“I hope that in time, we could renew a mayor’s permit through online application only, instead of going to the municipal or city hall,” he told reporters. “Anyway, all it takes in such transaction is just the assessment, plus the payment itself.”

Guillermo Luz of the National Competitiveness Council and acting country director Chiyo Kanda of World Bank have expressed support to make transactions more efficient.

Robredo expressed urgency to adopt best practices in governance.

“We want to help how to fast track the application process for business permits and other transactions. We need to catch up with other Asian countries, such as Malaysia, and even overtake them,” he said.

“Our competitors never sleep. They never stop. They always work harder.”

Meanwhile, Robredo told the Optical Media Bureau to tap mayors in a concerted crackdown on pirated video and other recorded materials.

He asked OMB Chairman Ronnie Ricketts to authorize the mayors nationwide to create their local OMBs and act against the rampant violation of intellectual property rights.

“Our fight against piracy must be a collective effort, and not just the sole responsibility of OMB,” he told reporters.

Roberto blamed the lack of adequate staff for OMB’s failure to fully stop the proliferation of contrabands.

“Government’s crackdown is not yet enough,” he said Ricketts must deputize the local governments as his enforcement arm.

“Nothing would really happen to our (anti-piracy) drive if OMB would not be capable of overseeing the illegal sale, distribution and manufacture of fake DVDs and VCds (in the countryside),” he said. “There must be local OMBs.”

original source: www.manilastandardtoday.com