The city government of Taguig has relaunched its Business One-Stop Shop program where entrepreneurs and business establishment owners can process registration and renewing licenses.
Without a weekend break, BOSS is held simultaneously at the Taguig City Hall Auditorium and at the 9th floor of the City Hall Satellite Office in SM Aura, from Jan. 3 to 20, 2019 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
BOSS is one way Taguig showcases its business-friendly culture. While the program already allows faster processing of business permits and licenses, the city further intends to make the process comfortable and memorable for business representatives who are treated to candies, biscuits, and refreshments during the wait.
“Taxes are the lifeblood of the city’s programs and social services,” Business Permit and Licensing Office officer-in-charge Atty. Fanella Joy Panga-Cruz explained.
She also highlighted that taxes translate to social services that include the door-to-door delivery of medicines and scholarship assistance, among others.
“The more taxes we collect from the business community, the more we can provide services to Taguigeños,” she said.
Because of its efficient services and compliance to Republic Act No. 11032, also known as the “Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018,” Taguig City collected P2 billion through its BOSS in 2018.
“Transparency plays a vital role in our city’s successful conduct of BOSS. We strictly comply with the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA), especially the Zero-Contact Policy that only allows government personnel-client contact when it’s necessary so as to prevent fixers,” Panga-Cruz added.
Panga-Cruz also noted that BOSS played a huge role in the city government’s full payment of a P1.6-billion loan incurred by the previous administration. The excess collection during the annual BOSS, together with the collection of the city’s Real Property Tax, was allotted to debt payment. By end of 2018, Taguig is now debt-free.
Taguig has received a Blue Certification Award from the Office of the Ombudsman for its streamlined frontline services and an excellent rating from the Civil Service Commission for its compliance with the Anti-Red Tape Act.
In December 2018, the city government received an award for ranking second in the 2017 Bureau of Local Government Finance Collection Target for Business Tax in recognition of its local collection efficiency among the local governments in the National Capital Region.
Taguig City, despite being one of the youngest cities in the country, was also recognized last August 2017 by the National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines as one of the Most Improved Local Government Units in the category of Highly Urbanized Cities.
The city is currently home to top corporations, embassies, and government offices. New hotels, educational institutions and shopping malls have also sprung up in recent years within the fast-growing business districts of Bonifacio Global City and ARCA South. In fact, the new Philippine Stock Exchange Tower was unveiled on 5th Avenue corner 28th Street on February 2018.
“We are always thinking of ways to improve our services for our taxpayers. We wanted to stay true to our commitment that the City of Taguig is indeed a business-friendly city, and these achievements already speak for themselves. Rest assured that we will continue to strive harder towards better local governance and more efficient public service,” said Mayor Laarni Cayetano.