Even after eight years have passed since the Ease of Doing Business and the Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 took effect to fix the red-tape issues—many business owners will tell you the same thing: whether you register, renew, or close your business in the Philippines, it would not feel like a “one-stop” process as the law implies.
This is not mere hearsay, but rather a recent and evident policy note from the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev). Despite years of reform efforts, the report from the agency finds that fragmented government systems, weak data coordination among agencies, and uneven digitalization across local government units are still prevalent in everyday business transactions.
The Root of the Problem
The core issue is not about whose office is inefficient; rather, it is about the offices involved in registration, renewal, and closing of business that do not share information with one another. Mainly, it is pertinent to the Business Permit and Licensing Office (BPLO), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), as each of them runs its own systems—making the same documents need to be resubmitted and revalidated separately, more than once, for the same transaction.
Thus, this shows up most clearly in the stage of registration, wherein the hardest to secure are:
- BIR Registration
- Fire Safety Inspection Certificates
- Zoning Clearance
- Sanitation Permits
Furthermore, in terms of Renewals—they run the same thing. Numerous businesses still have to proceed to respective departments’ offices and be there in person. Doing so leads to crunching through the deadline period, putting pressure on LGU’s staff and systems, and ultimately resulting in backlogs. Particularly, the fire safety revalidation is processed through its own separate system that is not linked to an LGU platform, making a renewal that may start online end up with manual fixing with the fire department.
Lastly, closure of business is evidently the most frustrating stage among all, as per business owners. The crucial reason behind this is that there is no standardized national process for it. Several businesses have to face LGUs and the BIR separately, noting that the BIR’s tax clearance certificate tends to be the hardest document to obtain. Old or unresolved tax issues, even the smallest ones, can pause a closure for an indefinite period of time.
Reforms are on Paper but not yet in Reality
As the abovementioned issues were addressed through a survey conducted by DEPdev, their policy note lays out what the next steps should be. Some of the recommendations are:
- Make BPLO permanent
- Adopt Standardized Offices in LGUs
- Implement a Unique Business Identification Number across government agencies
- Build a Unified eBusiness Platform
- Stricter enforcement by the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA)
Definitely, these are meaningful steps, but simultaneously, they show that the government’s problem regarding business processes is not just perceptive in nature but a structural one. Truly, the inoperability between BIR, LGU, and BFP systems, along with a standardized national closure process, are still mere proposals rather than something that businesses can rely as of today.
What This Means in Practice
Until then, the practical reality for most business owners is that registration, renewal, and closure will continue to require more manual coordination than they should—such as multiple visits to the relevant offices, repetitive document validation, and close attention to deadlines.
Hence, while the government has yet to move beyond these traditional approaches, strong compliance habits can make the biggest difference. Businesses that stay updated on tax filings, maintain proper permits and certificates ahead of deadlines, and organize records are better positioned to move smoothly through these processes than those who only catch up at the last minute.
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