Local lift: Making LGUs more transparent and business-friendly
REGAINING A FOOTHOLD Marikina City’s shoe industry hopes to stop playing catch-up amid the flood of imports. —JAM STA. ROSA
We probably won’t see the end of basketball courts, waiting sheds, welcome arches or vanity projects being built using taxpayer money and not-so-subtly advertising the names of whoever currently occupies the top post at City Hall.
But there is also a growing list of local government programs deserving praise for their technological innovation, administrative creativity, progressive thinking and tangible socioeconomic impact.
The Inquirer looks back at some of those projects in Metro Manila and how they seek to encourage entrepreneurship in the communities or promote good governance as a primary element for a healthy business climate.
Freedom of Information Center (Pasig City)
Embracing an issue that most national politicians have avoided, Pasig City has emerged quite surprisingly as a local proponent of freedom of information (FOI) initiatives.
In September 2018, it became the first city in the country to approve a local FOI law. In a follow-through legislation in July this year, it enacted the Pasig Transparency Mechanism Ordinance, which established a fully-staffed FOI office formally called the “Ugnayan sa Pasig Unit.”
The office essentially serves as a one-stop shop for all FOI-related concerns, where journalists, civil society groups and ordinary citizens can request government data, file complaints and apply as policymaking partners. Currently manned by more than 10 staff members, it is considered a fulfillment of Mayor Vico Sotto’s campaign promises centering on good governance and anticorruption initiatives.
Because the center streamlined existing processes and reorganized current staff, it also came at no extra cost to the local government. “There are no secrets here in Pasig,” Sotto said during the center’s inauguration. “We will not be hiding any problems or challenges. I will show you the good, the bad and the ugly.”
Shoe industry revival (Marikina City)
In recent years, Marikina’s homegrown footwear industry had been playing catch-up and losing heavily in the branding game, with factories closing down as imported shoes flooded the market.
In August, however, local manufacturers gathered at City Hall to boldly proclaim that the city’s shoe industry could regain lost ground, pinning their hopes on a road map to recovery that promotes “a culture of collaboration”.
The local government made it easier for first-time shoemaking entrepreneurs to secure permits and put up shop, while old industry rivals agreed to share tools and resources as members of a collective.
FOI PROPONENT Championing freedom of information by granting citizens easy access to government data is among the priorities of Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto. —INQUIRER PHOTO
The city’s first Shoe Tech School is currently being constructed on the campus of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina, while shoemaking courses are now included in junior and senior high school programs.
Tulong Negosyo (Muntinlupa City)
Low-income Muntinlupa residents who want to start small businesses need not worry about capital, thanks to zero-interest loans extended by the city government.
The Tulong Negosyo program caters to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises by providing loans ranging from P2,000 to P150,000, depending on the business capital ceiling and the borrowers’ payment record.
Loan applicants, however, must first undergo entrepreneurship training, with emphasis on cost efficiency or maximizing savings.
At present, the program has around 6,000 beneficiaries, with more than P70 million in loans granted.
“The city government vows to support grassroots [business] players through additional capital loan assistance and other capacity building training,” Mayor Jaime Fresnedi said.
Plant Me (Valenzuela City)
In front of Valenzuela City Hall, various seedlings with little notes that say “Plant Me” are arranged in rows, waiting to be picked up.
As part of the local government’s urban greening project, the city’s agricultural office started giving away in June around 300 to 400 seedlings a day—all for free.
Residents can take their pick during office hours, while City Hall employees can have their turn from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. They can choose from a wide variety of vegetables such as red chilis, tomatoes and cabbages, as well as medicinal plants.
To make sure only Valenzuela residents were taking home the free seedlings, would-be recipients must fill out a form with their full name, contact number and address.
“We then visit their homes to monitor the growth of the plants,” said April Joy Udto, an agricultural technologist involved in the project.
A “gulayan (vegetable patch) contest” was held in July to reward residents who had taken care of the plants they received and had since cultivated lush gardens.
Project ELO (Parañaque City)
Applying for business and work permits in Parañaque City has been made faster and easier with Project Express Lane Operation (ELO), whose second phase was launched in August.
Through Project ELO 2.0, the 19-step procedure has been cut to three, according to Melanie Soriano-Malaya, the city’s Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) chief.
ELO 2.0 has also put in place a tracking system that allows clients to see the progress of their application, which is flashed on queue monitors in real time.
It also features a document management system where all paperwork submitted are digitalized and stored in a central storage, allowing easy retrieval.
Clients applying for the renewal of their business permits can do so in just a few clicks through the self-service Smart Kiosks.
The kiosks can print out application forms, a mayor’s permit and a quarterly statement of accounts for the payment of business taxes and fees, reducing human interaction and red tape, thus narrowing the window for corruption.
Through the improved business application system, Malaya said, the city government hopes to post a 15-percent increase in the number of business registrations and business taxes collected.
Last year, Parañaque’s BPLO collected P2.5 billion in business taxes and fees from 23,000 business registrants in the city.
“Project ELO 2.0 is the fruit of our efforts to raise the bar of service delivery to our people,” Mayor Edwin Olivarez said. “It brings together innovative solutions into Parañaque’s pioneering concierge system, effectively redefining what it means to be business-friendly.”
The first phase of Project ELO was implemented in January, in line with Republic Act No. 11032, or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.
Shift to green transport (Quezon City)
Around 300 electronic tricycles (e-trikes) will soon hit the streets of Quezon City as part of the local government’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions while expanding livelihood options for residents.
In October, 15 e-trikes were turned over to qualified beneficiaries at Barangay Sacred Heart. The vehicles were part of the initiative of the Department of Energy to promote energy efficiency and clean technologies in the transport sector.
Several barangays in the Tomas Morato area, a bustling commercial district, have agreed to serve as pilot areas for the e-trikes. “It’s a tourist destination and we want to show to the public that in places like this, we are beginning to use green and renewable energy,” said Mayor Joy Belmonte.
The city aims to put up an incentive scheme for tricycle drivers to switch from gas-fed units to the more environment-friendly models.
Paspas Permit (Valenzuela City)
On Nov. 12, as part of the highlights of Valenzuela City’s 396th founding anniversary celebration, the local government launched the “Paspas Permit” (speedy permit) system where business owners can apply for or renew their licenses through their smartphones or laptops in the comfort of their homes.
Applicants can access Paspas Permit at online.valenzuela.gov.ph. After creating an account and logging in, they only need to submit three requirements: a barangay clearance, a sketch of their business location and a certificate of registration from the Department of Trade and Industry.
After uploading clear images of the needed documents, users can choose between paying for their business permits online via credit card or through over-the-counter bank transactions.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Once the payment is confirmed, the system will generate a temporary business permit within “10 seconds.” The permit will be valid for 30 days and may be revoked if there are irregularities found in the submitted requirements.
The application has drawn praise from Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez for being the “first of its kind” in the country.
“That is ease of doing business, and this is the challenge for many of us in government,” Lopez said as he urged other local government units to follow Valenzuela’s model.
Paspas Permit later earned a commendation from the Anti-Red Tape Authority for its “exemplary service and support in the implementation of the ease of doing business law.”
Makati Wi-Fi Loop, Makatizen card, Makatizen app
For Makati City Mayor Abby Binay, technology is key to improving governance and bringing public officials closer to the people. “I believe that leaders should adapt to the digital age and conceptualize innovative ways to make public services more accessible to our people,” she said.
With this goal in mind, the city government has implemented three public-private sector partnership projects at zero cost to the taxpayers: A free public Wi-Fi system, the Makatizen card and the Makatizen app.
TECH AT YOUR SERVICE The Makatizen Card,which consolidates the systems by which residents can access health and social benefits from the local government, is one of the three major tech-driven projects launched under Mayor Abby Binay.
In August 2017, the local government entered into a partnership with Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc. and Neo Tech Asia Distribution Inc. (Neo Converge ICT Solutions, or NCIS) to establish a free public Wi-Fi system in the city.
The Wi-Fi system operates on a fiber optic loop that runs across the city and provides free internet connection to residents and visitors in the city’s 27 villages (excluding the six upscale villages).
Since January, the system has recorded over 500,000 log-ins while maintaining an average speed of 175 Tbps.
The all-purpose Makatizen card, meanwhile, consolidates the access channels to the health and social benefits enjoyed by residents. It also allows them to transact in a cashless ecosystem to deter corruption.
To date, there are nearly 100,000 Makatizen cardholders, while some 134,000 applications are being processed.
Through a tie-up with Globe Telecom, its subsidiary G-XChange Inc. and iBayad Online Ventures Inc., around 500,000 cards are being issued to intended recipients at no cost to the city.
The third project, the Makatizen app, allows users to report crimes, emergencies and various concerns in the city using their cell phones. Right now, it has over 15,000 registered users.
The Makatizen app also allows linkups to government agencies leading to “shorter response time, quicker apprehension and stronger deterrence to crime.”
Since the app was launched in 2017, incident reports to the city’s central command center in City Hall has increased from 150 to 400 incidents per day, subsequently improving response time to emergencies.
