Gov’t urged to make available certain services in regions
DINO
The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) has asked the presidential assistant for the Visayas to help lobby for certain government services to be made available in the regions.
CCCI president Melanie Ng said that business owners would still need to travel to Manila to secure permits and other requirements from national government agencies based there.
“There are a lot. There are the tax clearances, FDA (Food and Drug Administration), and even ECC (environment compliance certificate),” Ng told Cebu Daily News.
She said bringing these services to the regional offices would certainly help local businesses save on time, money, and other resources.
Ng added that this would also help improve the way business would be done as well as improve the competitiveness of local enterprises.
“This will definitely help level up and bring Cebu business to the next level,” she said.
She said that the chamber would immediately come up with a list of recommendations to the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, headed by Michael Dino.
The CCCI is an organization composed of around 700 members, from small entrepreneurs to large companies based in Cebu.
Ng brought this concern to Dino during the quarterly meeting of the Cebu Citizens Press Council on Thursday.
Dino, in response, said that he would support this request as he understood the inconvenience of having to travel to Manila every now and then for clearances.
“I know how hard it is. You go there and then you’re told to come back for it one week after. That’s how it is,” he said.
Before Dino was appointed by Duterte, he was the chief operation officer and executive vice president of land developer, Fifth Avenue Development Corp.
The CCCI’s request to regionalize government processes would also complement the present administration’s policy agenda.
When President Rodrigo Duterte was sworn into office last July 1, the first policy he laid down in his speech was the reduction of red tape in government.
Duterte ordered all department secretaries and heads of agencies to reduce the requirements and processing time for all kinds of applications.
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