BUSINESS name registration in Cebu was up by 17.9 percent during the first half of 2017 compared to the same period last year, owing to the stricter implementation of local government policies.
Latest data from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Cebu showed that the number of registered businesses in the province grew to 9,288 between January and June this year from 7,878 in the first six months of 2016.
“This can be attributed to the local government units’ (LGU) policy of ‘no business name, no mayor’s business permit,’” Zaide Bation, chief of DTI Cebu’s consumer welfare and business regulation division, told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview.
Bation said that, ideally, business owners need to secure business names from the DTI as a prerequisite to obtaining a permit from the mayor to operate their venture.
However, some LGUs issue these permits even without business name registration with the DTI.
“If you can submit, it’s okay. If not, you can submit by next year. Now, they will not process your application (for a mayor’s permit) if your business name is not registered with the DTI,” said Bation.
Bation said that only a few LGUs implemented this measure during the first semester of 2016, most of which were in Metro Cebu.
Towards the end of last year as well as the early part of this year, more LGUs became strict in following this policy as the DTI launched Negosyo Centers in their respective localities.
Negosyo Centers
Negosyo Centers, which are now spread across different parts of the province, aim to promote ease of doing business and facilitate access to services for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) within their jurisdictions.
Before 2016 ended, only 25 percent of Cebu’s towns and cities implemented the “no business name, no mayor’s permit” policy.
Today, almost all LGUs have tightened their belts, as shown in the growing number of business name registration applicants with the DTI.
“We now even have registrants from as far as the northern and southern tips of Cebu,” Bation said.
Of the total number of business names that were registered with the agency in the first half of this year, 8,161 were new while 1,127 were renewed registrations.
P1.16B capital
Capitalization for these businesses amounted to P1.16 billion while 13,867 jobs were generated from these enterprises.
In terms of number, food dominates the business registered during the period covered, followed by general merchandise, and transportation.
Real estate, transportation, and construction were the top three sectors as far as capitalization is concerned.
Construction, food, and general merchandise, meanwhile, employed the highest number of workers.
Bation said they expect the number of registered businesses will continue to rise toward the end of this year.
“Even the lines at the office are long. We still have people applying for business names and it hasn’t gone done. It just keeps going up,” she said.
13 Negosyo Centers
DTI also expects more entrepreneurs to register their businesses with the agency as more Negosyo Centers will be put up in the province this year.
Before the year ends, DTI will open 13 more of these centers, bringing the total number to 24.
Eleven out of the 13 will be in the Yolanda-affected towns, while the remaining two will be in Moalboal and Balamban.
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