New business registry system now in Mindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The Philippine Business Registry System (PBRS), an inter-agency service facet designed to hasten the public’s business-related transactions and other cross-section entrepreneurial concerns, is now active in Mindanao.

The Department of Trade and Industry in Region 12, in a press communiqué emailed by its chief trade and industry development specialist, Mary Ann Morales, labeled the PBRS as yet another “milestone” in providing prompt and appropriate government services to the country’s business community.

Under the PBRS, the DTI, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Cooperative Development Authority, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Social Security System, the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG), and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) are to work as one in providing services to clients from the business communities in all four corners of the country. 

Local government units that also issue business permits, as provided for by the Local Government Code, are to also cooperate in the enforcement of the PBRS.

Morales, in her emailed statement, quoted Ibrahim Guiamadel, regional director of DTI-12, as saying the PBRS was launched last Jan. 27 at the national capital region in a rite graced by President Aquino.

The event also showcased the Sole Proprietorship New Registration (SPNR) module outlining the respective roles of each of the offices involved in the PBRS, such as DTI for business name validation and processing; BIR for tax identification numbers;   and the SSS, Philhealth & Pag-IBIG for employer registration numbers, which are pre-requisites for the putting up, or expansion of businesses.

Applications for corporate businesses would have to be processed by SEC through its designated “service kiosks” as stipulated in the SPNR. Morales said with PBRS now “up and running,” sole proprietors can conveniently apply for business licenses or do other business-related transactions only through the internet, or through DTI offices.

Morales said prospective clients with access to internet can readily learn from the www.business.gov.ph of the intricacies of the inter-agency business and trade service convergence facet and the SPNR module.