The Philippine government has officially relaunched the Philippine Business Hub (PBH), a single online platform for registering businesses, at the Quezon City Hall on Monday, June 20.
The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) led the launch of the PBH. The Quezon City government also hosted the PBH launch.
During the event, ARTA Officer-in-Charge Ernesto Perez presented the timeline of the creation of the PBH and how several government agencies came together to make it possible.
He called on other government agencies to continue working together to reduce further the number of days and steps for registering businesses into one day and one action.
"Starting something completely new may be the most difficult task, but ARTA, together with our partner agencies, is doing what we can to make it swift and more efficient for the people," he said.
"Our role in government is to make opening this door as smooth and hassle-free and to keep it as open as possible so others can enter this world of new opportunities," he added.
Perez assured the public that ARTA is doing its best to fulfill the mandate to make doing business in the country easy and provide efficient services for all.
"All we seek is your support and, of course, utilize the services that we provide because this is all for your advantage and convenience," he said.
"Rest assured that we will not stop here but will continue to develop programs and initiatives that will improve our country and make your lives easier," he added.
The PBH, formerly known as the Central Business Portal (CBP), reduced the days for registering businesses from 33 days and 13 steps to only seven days with only one step. The portal is accessible through business.gov.ph.
Since its launch in January 2021, at least 703 corporations and 6,729 sole proprietorships have registered into the PBH.
In a statement, ARTA said that as part of the PBH's new look, the Philippine Business Regulations Information System (PBRIS) was integrated into the platform. The PBRIS is an online platform that provides accessible information on the Philippine Regulatory Management System and the laws and regulations that are relevant to the public.
During his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July 2021, President Duterte called on the subsequent administrations to continue using the PBH.
According to DICT Acting Secretary Manny Caintic, the end goal for the PBH is not just to register businesses but to be the sole platform for the whole life cycle of a business.
"The dream is for the Philippine Business Hub to be the only place you go to as a business to register, pay taxes, pay your social services for your employees, and the like," he said.
Citing data, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said up to 95 percent of the city's business owners secured their business permits through the city's online platform. She said the local government is optimistic that 100 percent of the city's business owners will embrace their online business permit and licensing system by the end of the year.
"Quezon City will continue to strive to be the epicenter of innovative reforms and game-changing improvements to programs and services that are more efficient, convenient, and time and resource-saving, not only to QCitizens, but to all our constituents," she said.
The Wallace Business Form founder and chairman Peter Wallace, EODB-ART Advisory Council private sector representative, congratulated the Philippine government on launching the PBH.
Wallace also reminded the government that they must take action to implement all the reforms that they are planning down to the grassroots level to impact the lives of the Filipino public.