By Jean Fernando
The promise of a stress-free, seamless way of doing business is easily the reason why Muntinlupa City ranks among the best Metro Manila localities when it comes to luring investors.
City Administrator Allan Cachuela (Facebook)
City leaders, now and then, have made this guarantee even before Congress was still contemplating in passing Republic Act 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act in 2018.
For nearly two decades now, the city treats its very valuable assets - - the businessmen, with utmost care and importance that prompted officials to put in motion the Business One-Stop Shop (BOSS).
The BOSS has streamlined the processes of securing business licenses and permits, payment of fees and taxes and other investment requisites as part of the city government’s bid to make businessmen feel the way they should be treated- like real bosses.
City Administrator Allan Cachuela, head of the Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) said the BOSS is Muntinlupa City’s way of ensuring efficient and streamlined processing of business permits, licenses and other vital requirements.
This system has been very effective it required little changes. Recently, the city government made the process quicker and more worry-free by implementing the Modified BOSS (MBOSS) and the Single Window Transaction or (SWiT).
These two business assistance systems have significantly reduced the processing period for the issuance of new or renewal of business permits and licenses from 72 hours to just 15 minut4es.
Cachuela said the city government has also been in constant coordination with the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) this time as additional guarantee of transparency and good governance rules are closely followed.
While at it, Cachuela said the city government is now working on another novel idea of making business the easiest venture if done in Muntinlupa City.
Studies are underway to integrate the fees for the Barangay Clearance and Bureau of Fire Protection clearance into its Business Permit and License Tax Administration System (BPLTAS).
Another innovation in making life easier and convenient for investors is the setting up of point of sales terminals and the setting of Quick Response Codes for easy verification and added security of public and business documents.
Reforms in raising revenues are not limited to business ventures.
The city government has also made real estate owner experience convenient way of paying taxes through the Online Real Property Payment System or MORPS which is an Internet-based payment system capable of handling real-time collection of fees for Real Property Tax (RPT) payments through a Landbank ATM account.
Why not? Muntinlupa City’s Barangay Ayala-Alabang and Alabang are home to the country’s rich and famous.
Muntinlupa City may have acquired its name as a small patch of territory that used to be part of Rizal province. It is now a huge, bustling city with 15,708 registered businesses that contribute over P2.35 billion in revenues.