28 April 2021, Cagayan de Oro City—Local Economic and Investment Promotions Officer (LEIPO) Eileen E. San Juan presents Cagayan de Oro’s initiatives in “Enhancing Business Climate of Local Governments under the New Normal,” a webinar organized by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) where local government units from all over the country share practices facilitating ease of doing business.
Cagayan de Oro was one of the first Philippine cities to automate and take business permit registration, renewal, and payment of taxes and fees online, and more recently rationalize Barangay Clearance fees and charges and integrate the payment thereof into City Hall’s systems in compliance with the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) Law.
DILG is facilitating knowledge sharing and peer-to-peer coaching to have all LGUs onboard by the July 2021 implementation deadline as the country seeks to improve its 95th ranking in the 2020 Doing Business Report, a 29-notch jump from its 124th 2019 ranking.
LEIPO San Juan focuses her presentation on how the city managed to navigate the tricky waters of rationalizing barangay clearance fees and charges and integrating payment thereof in the city government’s automated and online systems.
Historically, barangay governments have dictated the amount they charge businesses seeking clearance to operate in their respective barangays. The EODB law, however, calls for a standardization of the basis therefor, and transfers the task of collection to the city government.
With Cagayan de Oro’s Barangay Clearance Approval System (BCAS), however, which was developed in house by the city’s Management Information Systems (CMIS), the city’s barangays retain the prerogative to approve and can monitor and follow up on remittance.
Featured in the webinar with Cagayan de Oro are the city governments of Valenzuela, Parañaque, Tagbilaran, Pasig, Calamba, and Ilagan.