Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez urged business establishment owners to pay their taxes properly to continue the services offered by the city government to its constituents.
Benitez said Monday, November 20, that the Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) along with the City Legal Office intensified its operations against business establishments operating without a business permit.
On November 16, a total of nine business establishments in Bacolod City were closed by the city government for operating without a business permit.
The closure order was implemented by the City Legal Office (CLO)-Enforcement Team along Arceo Drive/Panaad, Barangay Mansilingan.
“We mean business, and we should not wait for a closure of our businesses due to lack of securing a business permit,” Benitez said.
He said the efficient tax collection will also increase the city’s collection.
“We are now looking for a system to monitor all the business establishments operating in the city. Currently, the city government provides a business permit with a QR (quick response) code that can be scanned or checked by the business establishment owners to determine it’s valid or not,” he added.
The mayor noted that it’s one way to ensure that all business establishments should register or secure a business permit.
“The city is growing and part of the growth is that we should capture the revenues for us to continue the services that are offered by the city government to its constituents,” Benitez said.
City Legal Officer Romeo Carlos Ting, Jr. said they are scheduled to serve the closure order to at least 50 business establishments in various barangays for operating without a business permit.
He said the BPLO forwarded to their office at least 100 business establishments that failed to secure business permits, adding that they will segregate the documents of those who processed with lack of documents and they will be assisted by the city to finish the processing so they can secure a copy of the business permit.
“Of the 100, at least 50 of them failed to apply for a business permit at the BPLO so they will be given a notice of closure maybe this week,” Ting said.
Ting explained that the closure order was supposed to be implemented in October but because of the MassKara Festival, it was deferred and only implemented this month.
City Treasurer Arlene Memoria said from January to October 2023, Bacolod City collected at least P490 million from the business tax.
She said the city’s total collection is now at 94 percent as of October this year.
Bacolod City is eyeing a P3.6 billion annual budget for 2024.*
