BAGUIO CITY – The Business Permit and Licensing Office shut down 544 businesses here from January 1 to May 15, 2024 for operating without the necessary permits.

Most of these establishments were discovered during routine inspections and public complaints.
The BPLO issued 20,375 business permits for the first four months of the year and continues to receive applications as well as renewal documents with high hopes that it will surpass last year's accomplishment of 24,426 permits issued.
Of the 20,375 businesses with permits, 19,522 were renewals and 853 were newly registered.
Most of the registered businesses are involved in wholesale and retail trade followed by accommodation and food services.
The BPLO said 17,825 or majority are micro-enterprises, 1,933 are small-scale, 524 are medium enterprises, and 93 are large-scale businesses.
The city government hopes that business permit applications will increase with the mainstreaming of the electronic business permit application system through the official portal ebpls.baguio.gov.ph.
The online application system is in compliance with the Ease of Doing Business law and the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA), particularly the Electronic Business One-Stop-Shop (eBOSS).