City notes significant uptake in business permit applications

The city government under Mayor Benjamin Magalong has processed a total of 22,352 business permits as of June 30, this year, according to permits and licensing division (PLD) chief Allan Abayao.

This translates to P335,287,231 as collection of the city for the six-month period as compared to  P330,731,855 for the whole of last year, he disclosed.

“This means that as of June of 2024, we have already surpassed the entirety of last year’s total collection,” Abayao said.

He pointed out that the city issued around  25,250 business permits in 2023, which could be surpassed since it is just slightly higher than the number issued as of June this year, and there are six more months to go until the end of 2024.

“As to applications and issued business permits, we are sure to surpass the number of permits that were issued last year,” Abayao stressed.

The PLD’s implementation of streamlining measures and the issuance of temporary permits when applicable and subject to the approval of other concerned offices are among the contributing factors to the significant increase in business permit applications, he explained.

Abayao said his offices’ conduct of regular barangay inspections and implementation of closures to non-compliant establishments, some of whom were given notices last year, is also a factor since the latter are forced to apply for business permits or will be permanently closed. – Gaby B. Keith